Jaune Arc, The Alpha Assassin
by PerseusTheSlayer
Summary: Jaune Arc, only son of Nero and Elizabeth Arc. With the legacy of his parents forced upon him with their demise, Under Mentor Ozpin, he must assume the mantle of the Assassin. The Alpha Assassin, the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood. And he must do it quickly, for a dark force is rising and the Assassins harbor a powerful secret and Evil will stop at nothing to get it.
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue. Revamped.**_

**I recently looked back at the first few chapters of my story and winced in disgust. Seriously? The story's first few chapters were agonizing to read, grammatical and spelling errors abundant. Also, the writing style was unacceptably childish and amateurish. No small wonder at the huge difference between the number of visitors between the first few chapters and the more recent ones.**

**For this I apologize. So I decided to revamp the first few chapters and restructure it before I continue writing the rest. For those who have already read this once, please do me a favor and re-read this. My deepest apologies and thanks to the few who PMed me about the many errors in the first few chapters and also pressured me to revamp this story's prologue.**

**For newcomers, please bear with me for the poor quality of the initial chapters, it gets better, I promise. **

**Anyway, Nuff' said. Let's go.**

The cold wind whistled as it swept through the empty streets of a small town outside Vale, rustling up fallen leaves and rubbish lying on the cold, rough tiles of the empty streets. The few streetlights left functioning on the deserted roads flickered and dimmed weakly as Remnant's shattered moon cast some weak rays of light on the town. It was very late in the night, and the few people populating the small town had retreated into their dwellings for the night, shutting doors and locking windows. The little town was right on the outskirts of Vale, very close to the open frontiers where Grimm prowled freely. The town was only protected by a small team of Hunters but even these trained warriors had settled down for the night, closing their doors and securing the locks.

The weak, yellow pools of light scattered about by the moon briefly illuminated a cloaked figure walking swiftly in the deserted streets, the figure's quick, jerky footsteps echoing softly in the eerie silence of the ghost-town. The figure's cloaked head was swiveling left and right, discreetly scanning his surroundings for any movement or disturbances as he swiftly made his way to the Town's Airship Docks. Warily maintaining a careful vigil of the many dark buildings and shadowy alleys, the figure briskly yet carefully made his way towards his salvation and escape route.

The shattered moon illuminated the path all the way down the main street to the small, yet still serviceable Docks, where a civilian Bullhead was idling, waiting to ferry him to safety. Desperately trying to calm his racing pulse as his eyes rapidly scanned across the deserted town, the figure nervously clenched the stock of his old, yet reliable Dust handgun. The weapon was securely stowed in his cloak's hip holster, safe from prying eyes. The cloaked, hooded man was still evidently nervous and jumpy, his pulse racing and his hands sweating around the metallic stock of his weapon, eyes darting warily from building to building, from each darkened alley to another.

He was regretting his stupid, foolish complacency. After executing his part of the mission flawlessly and delivering the precious, stolen loot to his clients, he had let his guard down, foolishly remaining in the Town's bar, celebrating his success and reveling in the impending arrival of a huge amount of Lien into his account as payment for accomplishing his mission. He had left all thoughts of his carefully planned, swift escape at the bottom of the multiple bottles of alcohol he had consumed. After waking up half-sober at the tolling of the Town's bell at midnight, he had realised his folly and was regretting his foolish escapades at the bar downstairs, who knew what secrets he had leaked in his drunken state.

Hurriedly throwing on a black cloak with the signature hood and securing his sensitive papers in a metallic briefcase, he removed his weapon from the same briefcase and stowed the Dust Handgun into his hip holster before hurriedly rushing off down the deserted streets towards the Airship Docks. He had wasted far too much time and was now risking his life by remaining in the Town after what he had done.

**_They were coming to hunt him down._**

As the man in the cloak hurriedly rushed around a corner, his swift, yet jerky footsteps lightly echoing down the shadowy alley, the few streetlights around him suddenly winked out. The meagre yellow pools of light and the misguided sense of safety the light rendered vanished. Completely and utterly.

Leaving him in absolute, crushing darkness. Except for the weak rays of light from the moon scattered on the rooftops, reflecting of the metallic surfaces of the roofing tiles.

The hooded figure's heart skipped a beat, a deep, bubbling sense of dread surfaced in the man's throat. Desperately suppressing the sudden urge to vomit and his legs' sudden transformation into worthless jelly, the figure slowly turned around, desperately praying for his fears to be unwarranted. The man continued his agonizingly slow about-turn, praying that for once in his worthless life would his luck actually surface and allowing the streetlight's sudden failure to be mere coincidence.

Obviously, he was not that lucky.

**The Assassin was here.**

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

A lone hooded, Assassin, shrouded in shadows appeared on the rooftop facing the frozen, shocked man on the empty streets down below. The Assassin calmly retracted a black Scroll's antennae, which had fired the EMP to knock out the streetlights down below. As the Assassin coolly tucked the gleaming, black Scroll back under his midnight-black cloak, his target, having sufficiently recovered from the horror and shock freezing him to the spot swore and drew his weapon.

The cloaked man down on the streets drew his Dust Handgun, firing a burst at the lone, unmoving Assassin on the roof before sprinting off down the dark alley, all pretense and stealth abandoned for pure speed in an attempt to escape the clutches of the Assassins.

The trio of Fire Dust rounds whistled towards the still unmoving Assassin, but the cold, unforgiving facade of the Assassin does not react in any way to the attack. Still unflinching, The Assassin draws the weapon currently slung over his shoulder with a quick movement. With his facial features still hidden under his hood, The Assassin grabs a curved handle off his back and with a flick of his weapon, the weapon mecha-shifts into its true form- a deadly Black metallic Bow with glowing blue Dust strips along its surface.

With a pull of its shimmering black String, a trio of matte-black arrow shafts with explosive tips materialize on the firing string, summoned from the Bolt Quiver on his back. Swiftly pulls the 3 explosive arrows back and taking aim, the Assassin fires the Bow. With pinpoint accuracy, the arrows intercept the bullets fired towards the Assassin and explode harmlessly, far enough from the Assassin. When the smoke from the blast dissipates, the Assassin was gone, leaving behind an empty, deserted rooftop, almost as if there had been nothing there before.

**_Time to hunt._**

The cloaked figure ran for his life, feet pounding on the ground, not caring for stealth as his lungs desperately tried to pump oxygen into his body. Sweat pouring down his face, the fleeing man slammed another cartridge of Fire Dust rounds into his gun and curses his stupidity at remaining in the town after betraying the Assassins. Now they had sent one to terminate him for his actions. Behind him, the pursuing Assassin smoothly chased him down, never losing sight of his target, easily narrowing the gap between hunter and prey. The Assassin gracefully arced over yawning gaps between rooftops, ducking under clotheslines strung across the rooftops, and leaping over obstacles with ease. His midnight-black cloak softly fluttering behind his lithe, armored body, the Assassin allowed a brief smirk to materialize for a moment before his emotionless Assassin facade took over as he closed in on his target. Swiftly yet stealthily, the Assassin raced ahead, until he was running on a rooftop directly adjacent to his prey. he had caught up with his quarry.

Now within range of his prey, he reached one hand to the dual weapons strapped to his pitch-black armor, next to his sheathed bow, Trinity, and drew the weapons. The twin C-shaped weapons resembled a pair of boomerangs, but were far more deadly. The Assassin unleashed the full power of his weapons with flick of his wrists, morphing the weapons into a pair of WarGlaives. With serrated razor-sharp teeth along the edges, these weapons could be thrown in a deadly arc, slashing and cutting through all kinds of material before returning to its user after a spin through the air. In a melee engagement, the weapons were lightweight and balanced, being able to deflect heavier weapons like swords and instantly retaliate without pause. One of these deadly weapons were thrown by the Assassin towards his target, and the weapon smoothly soared through the air in a curve, the weapons spinning flawlessly as it soared towards its target, effortlessly slashing through the targets cloak, scoring a deep cut through his Aura and ripping through skin and flesh. With a shattering scream of agony, the fleeing figure toppled towards the cold tiles of the streets, blood spraying out from the deep wound across the targets back and forming a crimson pool around the fallen man.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

The Assassin coolly retrieved his weapon as it soared back to him, effortlessly snatching the Glaive out of the cold air, retracting its' deadly teeth before re-strapping it to his back. After securing his weapon, the Assassin funneled some Aura from his formidable reserves to his armored legs, sprinting to the edge of the rooftop, the Assassin calmly leaps off , stretching his arms out, his cloak flapping behind him as he somersaulted in mid-air, performing a flawless Leap of Faith down the sides of the building he was standing on, plunging straight down to the ground. Swinging his body around as his cloak fluttered behind him, the Assassin made his landing on the ground with a burst of Aura cushioning him. Landing on the hard tiles with one hand splayed outwards, balancing perfectly in a hunched position, ready to spring up at any movement from his prey. Stretching up and working out the kinks out of his armored back, the Assassin stalked towards his downed prey slowly. There was no rush, his prey was down and the Hunt was over, now the time came to _terminate his target_.

The downed man struggled to push himself off of the ground where he had collapsed face-first and managed to turned around to face his would-be killer. With a hiss of pain from the sudden movement, blood spreading in a pool behind him, the downed man reached out a hand desperately towards the impassive Assassin standing before him.

"Please, Brother, mercy... mercy, Please..." The pathetic attempt to plead for mercy failed as the Assassin stopped his slow stalk towards his target and growled out, traces of rage and anger permeating through his low voice emanating from below his hood.

" You lost the right to call us Brothers after you betrayed the Brotherhood to the Templar threat! Do you have any idea of what damage you have caused? A Piece of the Artifact, the treasure we have been guarding for CENTURIES! Has been lost to the Templars, THE VERY ENEMY YOU SWORE TO STAND AGAINST WHEN YOU JOINED THE BROTHERHOOD! You failed to resist the temptations of material bribery, and were willing to sacrifice all we have given you, just for some measly monetary reward. YOU WERE ONCE A LOYAL ASSASSIN, YET YOU TURNED ROGUE. " The Assassin growled out, barely suppressing the boiling rage in his body and the urge to silence this foolish betrayer.

The Rogue hissed in pain and fear as the Assassin leaned towards him, armored hands outstretched...

"Enough. On account of your many years of loyal service to the Brotherhood before you went Rogue, I will allow you one chance. I challenge you to one on one combat. To the death. If you can best me, you will have an hour's headstart before my allies close in. Either this or death."

The downed Rogue nodded, desperate for any chance of prolonging his life. The Assassin placed his armored hands under the Rogue's body and flipped him over roughly, ignoring the suppressed yelp of pain. Flaring his Aura, the black clad Assassin channeled his Aura's healing powers into closing the deep wound on the Rogue's back. With the wound healed, the Assassin took a step back before stripping off his WarGlaives and his Bow, setting the weapons aside. The Rogue picked himself off the ground and retrieved his Dust Handgun, kicking it aside. The twin metallic sounds of a pair of Hidden Blades unsheathing rang out as the Assassin faced off against the Rogue. In a fight to the death.

His Assassin cloak flaring behind him, the Rogue leapt forwards with a cry, slashing his Hidden Blade downwards at the motionless Assassin before him. In a blur of blinding speed, the Assassin darted forwards into the impending attack, parrying the swift blow with his own Hidden Blade. Having successfully broken through the Rogue's guard, the Assassin smashed his armored fist into the Rogue's hooded face. A resounding 'crack' sound exploded outwards from the man's face, his head snapping backwards, spraying blood. The Rogue staggered backwards, clutching his broken nose. Swearing in rage, the Rogue dashed forwards again, rushing like a freight train straight for the patiently waiting Assassin. At the last moment, the Assassin crouched low, dodging the over-eager blow. Spinning in a circle, the Assassin swept his armored leg underneath the Rogue, sweeping the older Ex-Assassin off his feet. However, the Rogue simply caught his fall with one hand and flipped himself backwards, safe from the Assassin's retaliatory strike with the Hidden Blade, the ornately-carved weapon cleaving the air with a whistling sound.

"Not bad. The Assassins taught you well. Young one." The Rogue taunted in a deep bass voice, trying to antagonize his enemy.

The Assassin however did not rise to the jibe, instead adopting a defensive stance, ready for the Rogue's next move in silence.

"Very well. The kid gloves are off. I will not hold back any further." The Rogue said, a vicious undertone deepening his growl.

In a blur of movement and the flapping of his cloak, the Rogue charged, his speed markedly faster than previously. The Rogue leapt forwards, twisting in mid-air, dealing out a deadly roundhouse kick, followed by a stab with his Hidden Blade. The Assassin tensed, before snapping out of his defensive stance, rushing forwards, leaping cleanly over the Rogue's swishing leg and deflecting the following stab of his Hidden Blade. Having successfully defended himself, the black-clad Assassin ruthlessly slammed both his armored feet downwards, pistoning his armored legs straight onto the Rogue's outstretched right leg. Bone gave way like glass, shattering from the powerful blow as the Rogue howled in agony, clutching his ruined leg which had snapped downwards, the ruined bone snapping up, tearing through his flesh. The Assassin somersaulted backwards, releasing the Rogue's broken leg.

Suppressing tears of agony, the Rogue roared in rage and anger, adrenaline clamping down on the pain he felt and numbing the shock of the sudden, merciless blow. Charging at the still intact and untouched Assassin like an enraged bull, the Rogue put all remains of his strength and Aura into this last attack. If the Rogue had to fall to an Assassin, he would bring his killer down with him too. The attacking Rogue thought to himself, his Hidden Blade outstretched, ready to skewer the lone Assassin in his way.

The Assassin's cold blue eyes flashed dangerously and to the Rogue's sluggish reflexes , the Assassin disappeared in a blue of movement before a wave of excruciating pain enveloped the Rogue, and he knew no more.

The Assassin flared his Aura, his cold blue eyes flashing dangerously as time appeared to slow down around the black-clad warrior. Calmly watching the Rogue's last ditch charge with his Hidden Blade, the hooded Assassin waited patiently...

NOW!

Blurring into movement, the Assassin darted forwards, sidestepping his nemesis' careless charge and smashed his Hidden Blade into the hilt of the Rogue's weapon. In a display of strength, the Assassin pivoted sideways and twisted his weapon in a circlr with a quick twist of his wrist, snapping his opponent's Hidden Blade clean off the gauntlet, effectively disarming the enemy. Following up with a ruthless elbow to the Rogue's face as he spun back around, the Assassin halted the man's charge and lashed out with a swift, surgical strike to the man's left knee, shattering the man's kneecaps with a sound reminiscent of shattering glass. The Rogue fell to the ground, both his legs cruelly disabled, his left knee shattered, his right leg fractured and his nose broken and eye bruised from the Assassin's brutal counterattack.

"Nooo, please.. Please." The downed Ex-Assassin continued to plead for mercy as his would-be killer stalked towards him. But it was futile. The hooded Assassin unsheathed his Hidden Blade, the ornately carved weapon re-appearing in a blink of an eye from under the Assassin's gauntlet, craving for a taste of the blood of its prey. The Assassin lunged towards the pathetically crying and blubbering man on the ground...

It was over. The oblivious civilian Bullhead on the Docks would never receive it's lone passenger that night.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

The Assassin cleaned his blade on the cloak of the rapidly cooling corpse of his prey before retracting it with a soft *click* sound. Reaching into his cloak, he retrieves a matte-black Scroll and contacts a number. After a while, the receiver picks up the call.

"Mission accomplished. Target neutralized. I will require a clean-up crew to clear the body. What are my next orders, Master Assassin Ozpin? " The Assassin reports his mission's success.

An enigmatic voice sounds out in reply, pride evident in the undertones of his speech. " Well done, Jaune. You are proving yourself worthy of your father's legacy. He was a Master Assassin and you are well on your way to becoming one too. As of now, you are to return to your base, pack and prepare to leave. "

" To where? "The Assassin, now identified as Jaune Arc, inquires.

" You are coming to my school, I trust you are well prepared and Beacon is ready to accept you. " Ozpin answers.

" All right. " Jaune answers. But his inner instincts were tingling, warning him. Something was wrong. His Mentor was up to something again. Too late.

" And your Flight to Beacon is in an hour's time at Vale Airship Docks." His Mentor smugly states.

"WHAT? Are you freakin' serious? Vale, as in _fifteen_ miles from here? That Vale? In an hour? " Jaune screams in shock. _My Mentor is one sadistic son of a... I can practically detect his smug grin across the line... The Assassin thought to himself, suppressing the urge to explode in a flurry of colorful curses._

"Yeap! Good luck getting there in time, you'll need it!" The last thing Jaune hears from Mentor Ozpin is his hysterical laughter at Jaune's expense. Swearing, Jaune takes off towards Vale's Airship Docks, pulling his Assassin hood back down, funneling Aura into his armored legs and sprinting off.

Easily scaling a nearby wall with the aid of his Hook-Blade, the cerulean-eyed, blonde haired Assassin rushed off, speedily leaping from roof to roof straight towards Vale, sliding under and leaping over obstacles in his mad rush to make it for his flight.

_My Mentor is a demented, sadistic asshole, he definitely planned this, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM... _That particular notion about revenge would have to wait, the cloaked and hooded boy thought, as he sprinted off towards his flight to Beacon. _If he made it in time..._

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

On the other side of town, a figure wearing a white coat and sporting a cane stepped out of a dark alley, coolly lighting a cigar and placing it into his mouth. Swiping aside his trademark red fringe, he makes a call on his Scroll, " Cinder? This is Roman. The Rogue Assassin on our side is dead. He has been terminated." Roman Torchwick reported lazily as he watched the rapidly cooling corpse on the deserted streets.

A somewhat muffled voice replies something.

"IS that so? Interesting... So that Assassin is an Arc, we shall see what he is capable of then. Shall we send a small test of his abilities? Great!" Extinguishing his cigar, Roman Torchwick, Templar commander, turns around and disappears into the darkness of the alley, the Templar symbol glinting on his coattails as he melted into the shadows.

**Meanwhile... At the Vale Airship Docks...**

A decidedly small figure clad in a red cloak beckons to her Blonde haired, extremely well-endowed companion.

"C'mon Yang, the Airship is leaving... Yang... Yang!" Ruby Rose, 15 year old prodigy, wielder of Crescent Rose whines to her distracted sister to get on the leaving Airship. Pouting in irritation, the petite girl folds her arms and scowls.

"Coming... " Yang Xiao Long, elder sister to Ruby, reassures her sister as she strolls towards the Airship at an easygoing pace. Both siblings board the Airship and take a seat next to each other with Ruby choosing a window seat to observe the surrounding landscape, waiting for liftoff. They do not have to wait long, as the thrusters begin humming and the Airship prepares to lift off. Just then, Ruby spots a rapidly bobbing figure bouncing from roof to roof, racing towards the Airship, desperately waving and shouting something.

"Um... Yang? You've got to see this." The 15 year old girl tugs adorably at her older sister's sleeve as her silver eyes widen in shock and awe.

**Outside...**

"I HATE OZPIN. I HAAAAATEEEEE HIM! NO QUESTION ABOUT IT, SO WHAT IF HE WAS MY MENTOR? WHEN I SEE HIM, I'M GONNA RIP HIM APART, TEAR HIM TO SHREDS FOR MAKING ME RUN LIKE THIS! HEY HEYYYY! WAIT UP! "

Jaune Arc was swearing like a sailor, cursing his mischievous Mentor for pushing him through this torturous sprint. He screamed at the Airship to wait as he sprinted even faster to catch up to the Airship which was beginning its launch sequence.

**In the Airship...**

" Um Yang, what do you think he's saying? " Inside the confines of the Airship, Ruby peered curiously at the frantically waving and shouting figure. " No idea. I think he's shouting something at us though... " Her sister replied.

" C'MON! WAIT UP! " Jaune yells in frustration as the Airship speeds up its ascent.

_Enough is enough. Desperate times call for desperate measures._ Jaune thought to himself in exasperation. Channeling his formidable Aura into his armored legs, he sprints to the edge of the rooftop before crouching and taking off with a huge Aura-fuelled jump, soaring rapidly towards the Airship.

" Here we gooOOO! " The Assassin yells as he punches through the thrust generated by the Airship's engines. Swiftly soaring towards the Airship, the blonde Assassin unsheathes his Hook Blade from his left Gauntlet and desperately thrusts it out on the Airship's armor. The hook on the end of the weapon catches hold on the Airship's armor plates and he grabs hold onto the armor plate for dear life, pounding on the Emergency Door, pleading for entry.

With a quick swoosh, the external door opens and Jaune leaps into the cabin before it de-pressurizes, and slams the door shut behind him. Falling to one knee in exhaustion, he looks up gratefully, his cerulean eyes gleaming with humor and warmth.

"Thanks for opening the door back there, I was kinda late." With his hood fallen off his head the Assassin sheepishly says as everyone in the cabin stares in shock at the unorthodox entry.

Jaune ruffles his windswept hair sheepishly, feeling awkward at all the attention.

Ruby breaks the stunned silence.

_"That. Was. Awesome. "_

" He-he, Oops. " The Assassin mutters.

**Okayy... That's the prologue done. Phew. I'm dead tired now. It's beginning to get quite late where I'm at now. This is freshly proofread by my friend too, but he is probably as tired as me and there may be errors. Those who PMed me about the errors in the first few chapters, I have tried my best to correct these and once again I apologize for my amateurish errors in the first few chapters of the FFC. But then again, I was new to writing at that point in time.**

**Anyways, please review and tell me what you liked or disliked about this. I am open to tips and suggestions. Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

**I replaced the initial chapter 1 Prologue with a revamped version and pushed this unedited one back first. This chapter was initially chapter 1 but I changed the order. Revamping this next**

The broken moon of Remnant glowed in the dark sky, spilling out weak rays of light in the night. In a small village tucked away on the outskirts of Vale, a little boy, no more than 9 years old, was reading a book. With blond hair, shining bright sky-blue eyes, the boy immersed himself in the stories of Heroic feats and battles of the first Grimm war, where the Grimm were successfully driven away and all of Remnant was bought a respite from the endless darkness. His eyes shined with excitement as he eagerly devoured tale after tale of amazing feats accomplished by the many heroes, Knights, Warriors and many others. Just then, his stomach growled.

"Oops, I must have lost track of time. " With a sigh, the reluctant blond-haired boy closed his book and slipped his feet into his flip-flops and padded out of his room quietly to relieve his hunger pangs. Halfway down the hall, he heard voices. Curious, Jaune stepped closer to his parents closed door.

" Elizabeth, we don't have much time! We must act soon, this is much more serious than you think! They are rising... " Nero, his father, head of the Arc family said emphatically, trying his best to be quiet. Jaune's mother replied," But we can't do this! We have no right to drag Jaune into this! He is my baby boy... We already traveled so far, forsaken so much, I am dedicated to the Creed, and so are you, but my baby boy is the most precious thing I have left... Oh Nero... " June's heart wrenched as he heard sniffles and sobs coming from the room. He could not stand to hear his beautiful, kind-hearted mother cry, but he heard rustling of sheets and heard his father's comforting words," OK, Jaune's my son too, and I will do my best to protect him, but..."

Just then, the wooden plank under his foot made a creaking sound. In the dark and silent hallway, its was as loud as a gunshot. Jaune cursed his rotten luck as he sprinted for his room, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, with practiced ease and grace, he leapt into his bed, pulled his blankets over his head and pretended to be in deep sleep. Barely seconds later, using his sharp hearing, he heard his bedroom door swing open slowly and felt his father's presence in the room. Desperately regulating his breathing, he mentally sighed in relief as he felt his father gently closed the door and head back after checking on him. Curiosity prickling at his mind, he decided to go to sleep, letting his tired self sink into warm caresses of sleep.

That night, he dreamt of strange hooded figures, clad in Warrior robes and armor fighting other shadowy figures. Was this a sign of something ominous?

**15 months later...**

Nero Arc, head of the Arc family swung his sword, Crocea Mors in a wide sweep. His opponent gracefully leapt backwards and deflected the blow, countering it with a swift lunge. Sunlight reflected off the sharp edge of the weapon as it slashed through the air towards its opponent. But Nero Arc, the head of the Arc family was not so easily felled. With a quick parry and a swift counterattack, his opponent was disarmed and sent flying with a quick kick to the chest armor. With a sigh of exasperation, Jaune Arc stripped off his armor and tossed it onto the grassy field next to him, revealing a toned lithe body with hints of developing muscles clad in a soaked white undershirt. "C'mon Dad, I didn't even get a chance to put a scratch on you, and I'm already flat on the floor. Gimme a break! " Jaune complained. Laughing at his son sprawled put on the grassy ground, Nero Arc grinned as he removed his helmet and and said," Don't worry Jaune, you only started weapons training a couple of months ago and you managed to last quite long against me. Your improving very well... " With a nod of appreciation at the praise, Jaune got off the grassy hilltop and picked up his armor. " Let's try this again." With a proud smile, Nero Arc hefted his sword and attacked, continuing the sparring.

After 2 more hours, the training stopped for the day and the father/son pair sheathed their swords and set off back to their village. Traversing through the forest at the bottom of the hill, Jaune suddenly spoke up, "Wanna race back home? It'll give us an opportunity to practice our parkour and stamina... " Sporting a wide grin, Nero smugly declared," Last one to reach home gets to clean the weapons and armor. " and promptly dashed off, jumping over obstacles and ducking under branches. Jaune smirked," Not so fast, old man. I'll give you a run for your money... " before leaping 2 metres up and grabbing hold of a tree branch and gracefully leaping from tree branch to tree branch, displaying a near perfect sense of balance as he easily cleared distances of more than 2 metres between jumps. As he neared the edge of the forest, he spotted his father sprinting ahead, his powerful muscled legs propelling his huge muscle-bound frame forward, seemingly not feeling the weight of the armor. Jaune began to panic and without a second thought leapt off the top of the 15 metre tall tree, his body soaring down in a literal leap of faith from the tall height and landed on his father's back, sending Nero Arc tumbling onto the ground before racing ahead of his stunned father and reaching the village's boundaries, waving at the sentry posted on the village walls as he blew past all the way home. As Jaune finally reached home, covered in perspiration he looked back and saw his Father still chasing him and laughed triumphantly, " I WON! HAHAHA! FINALLY! "

Nero Arc finally reached his house and proudly smacked his son's back. " Well done. I was definitely going to win before you performed that crazy leap off the tree straight into me. If you didn't I'd have definitely won! "

" No you wouldn't... "

" Yes, I would... "

" No"

"Yes"

"No"

Yes"

"No... "

At this, Elizabeth Arc, rolled her eyes and shouted" Quit this childish bickering and get ready for dinner at once! " Instantly, the 2 Arc males ran for their lives and retreated to their rooms to get changed, " Men... " Elizabeth sighed in exasperation...

**6 months later... **

The Arc family had just finished dinner and Jaune and Elizabeth Arc were cleaning up. The family had had guests over, a blonde haired strict looking woman, and an enigmatic greyhaired man sporting glasses and a cane. The man, named Ozpin was deep in discussion with Nero Arc, seemingly anxious and worried. "Nero, you cannot afford to ignore the danger. They are almost here... There is no time left at all. You must..." Ozpin's voice grew softer at the risk of being overheard and Nero Arc, sporting a frown replied gravely. "I will not risk dragging my sole son into this affair but I have made preparations, should the worst happen..."

Just then, Jaune appeared, " Bye Dad, , Professor Ozpin and Goodrich, I'm gonna go outside to train for a while. Seeya!" Eyes sparkling with innocence and happiness, completely unaware of ominous happiness, Jaune donned his lightweight armor and snatching up his Forged steel sword proceeded out to train his swordsmanship.

"Look at him, Nero. He is completely oblivious to what's happening now, I hope you know what you are doing. He is not prepared enough. " Ozpin said with a worried glance at Jaune's departing figure. Nero looked down dejectedly and mumbled," I don't want him to get involved in Assassin affairs at such a young age. "

Ozpin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and finally said." It's your decision in the end and I cannot push you to do want you are not willing to... But the Artifact must be protected at all costs, and you may have to make the ultimate sacrifice if you want to protect both your son and the Artifact."

" I understand, but I will not change my mind. Jaune will only be involved if I have no other choice, but I will make preparations. " Nero firmly declared. Ozpin rose and Glynda Goodwitch, his assistant followed. Nero too, rose and told his wife, Elizabeth," It's time, Beth, we must prepare the Arc legacy. The legacy of the Assassin.

**Prologue Fin**

**A/N Hi, this is my first RWBY story I'm working on and I intend to make this an AU. If you look closely enough, hints of the first story arc have begun to appear. Please leave a review to help me streamline and reinvent my story, I really appreciate it. So Thanks beforehand. I hope to release the next chapter once I get sufficient feedback and have streamlined my story. Thanks for reading and do contribute to this story. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not RWBY or Assassin's Creed. See ya. **


	3. Chapter 3

Jaune Arc staggered to a mercifully empty seat on the Airship and collapsed on it promptly. He was tired out from the crazy sprint to board the Airship and he had pushed his body too far by using his aura to make that huge leap to the Airship. Sinking to a more comfortable position on the seat, he slowly fell into the realms of dreams.

And relived his most painful memories.

**Timeskip... Back to the past Jaune 11 years old. **

After the dinner with Ozpin and Glynda, Nero Arc could not continue to ignore the impending danger, and began preparations. After sending Jaune out to train his parkour and fitness skills, Nero Arc, with a heavy heart opened a part of his life that he had tried his best to distance his family from. His life as an Assassin. Nero Arc ascended the stairs to the 2nd floor of his house and went to his bedroom. Opening his closet, he pulled on a secret lever hidden among his clothes and the back of his closet swung open, revealing a dark, secret passage. Summoning up his courage, Nero Arc stepped into the passage and came out into a lit room. The room wasn't too big, it had only one purpose only, to store and hide his legacy as an Assassin to protect his family, especially Jaune Arc, his precious, still innocent son from the danger of life as an Assassin. But it was time to admit that he could not do this forever, his old life would come back to him no matter what. Since he could not avoid it, he would prepare for it. He walked to the centre of the room and gazed at the centrepiece of his legacy as an Assassin. His Assassin armor and weaponry. A beautiful suit of armor with polished white lightweight chest piece capable of deflecting all but the most deadly attacks and the gauntlets containing the signature, ornately carved Hidden Blades as well as his own addition the Hook Blade on the other gauntlet which could be used as an aid in combat as well as in scaling objects. Finally, his dual Dust handguns and his Family inheritance. Crocea Mors. The deadly sword and it's sheath which could morph into a shield had been a great, long-serving weapon had been wielded by the famous Elias Arc in the Grimm Wars, where humanity had barely triumphed against the forces of Darkness, driving the Monsters away and acquiring some desperately needed peace. The legendary weapon had been passed down from generation to generation, finally arriving in his hands. Nero began dismantling and storing his Assassin armor in a small chest, along with a book entailing Assassin origins and knowledge on weapons and armor. He holstered his Dust guns on his body and grabbed Crochea Mors, slinging it across his back. He carried the chest out and placed it on the bottom of his closet, he was now prepared for the worst after writing a few letters and placing some more items in the chest. He hoped the situation would not deteriorate to the extent that he would have to execute his plan, but he was prepared for the worst.

And not a moment to soon.

**3 weeks later... **

Nero and Jaune Arc had just concluded a rigorous training session pushing both Arcs to their physical limits in fitness, swordsmanship, and agility. They were now on their way home, threading through the forest home. As they ran, Nero heard a Eagle's call and suddenly stopped. jaune looked back quizzically but his father motioned for him to go on. "Perhaps he was tired." Shrugging, Jaune continued running home. When Jaune was out of sight, Nero whirled around and returned the signal of the Assassins. Within seconds, a dark shadow leapt out from the tree lines. A hooded Assassin. The Assassin urgently told Nero, " Nero, it is time. We cannot delay any further. The Templars have got wind of the existence of the Artifact and are coming. You must leave as soon as possible. They have most likely tracked you down. You must get the Artifact to safety..."

Nero Arc protested, " What about my family? My son? I am loyal to the Brotherhood but my family is as important to me as my duty as an Assassin. I cannot abandon them." The hooded Assassin sighed in exasperation, "OK, you have 3 days estimated to decide. The Templars are already beginning to track you down. I hope you are ready." Nero Arc frowned and nodded, showing the Assassin his Dust guns loaded with deadly explosive rounds, and Crochea Mors sheathed behind him, " I am prepared. I just need a little more time."

The hooded Assassin nodded." Consider yourself warned. I'm leaving now. " Nero nodded and started off back home, when he looked back again, there was no sign of the Assassin having been there.

**2 hours later...**

" Jaune, I need you to follow me, we need to talk. " Nero Arc said urgently. Jaune raised an eyebrow, his normally carefree and cheerful father was acting all serious and Stern for once. Gulping, he mentally thought back, had he done something wrong to anger his father? No, his father was not angry, in fact he seemed... Worried. This made Jaune feel even worse, he had never seen Nero Arc act like this before, Nero was usually happy and cheerful, with never a trace of such anxiety or even fear appearing on his face. Jaune stood up and dutifully followed his father out. The father/son duo stood on the edge of the hill over looking the town they lived in. Nero sighed, and placed his hands on his sons shoulders. "Jaune, listen to me. I never told you what it was that I did before you were born, heck, even before I met your mom and started this family. I kept this a secret from you to protect you, and I hope someday you will learn to understand my decision and the consequences. "

Jaune was understandably confused and puzzled. What was it exactly that his father did that was so important and serious that he had to keep it a secret from him, even if it were necessary to protect him? Nero Arc sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. " I can't tell you yet, you may not understand why I did what I used to. But all I can tell you is that should anything happen to me, or your mother or heck even both of us, please don't question this but you must retrieve the chest at the bottom of my closet and give the letter on top of it to Uncle Ozpin, do you remember him, he came over to see us for dinner a while ago. He is Headmaster of Beacon, the combat school up in Vale, you can trust him. He will take care of anything. "

At this, Jaune was even more confused and worried. " B.. but what's going on you didn't... " Nero Arc, with the light from the setting sun shining off his weathered face, had never looked more old then, he looked like a weary, exhausted man, with the weight of the world weighing down on his shoulders. " Please, don't probe into it. Just please, promise me this, it's for your own good..." Jaune was shocked and stunned but managed to nod his head and choke out" I.. I.. I Promise. Dad, I won't let you down. I will not question this, but I hope you will explain this to me someday. " Nero Arc's blue eyes shined with tears then and he embraced his son and they held on to each other, taking comfort from each other. It was as if it would be the last time they were seeing each other, Jaune thought.

He would not realise how true it would become .

**The next day...**

It was a late evening, Jaune had had a bad feeling. Something was going to happen soon. His intuition was worrying him. His father, Nero Arc and his his mother Elizabeth Arc seemed to be extremely tense during dinner. Jaune had excused himself from the table after the meal and had retreated to the sanctuary of his bedroom and was lying on his bed, eyes dropping, he was feeling drowsy and was about to enter the realm of dreams when it happened.

*BOOMMMMMM! "

There was a huge, ear-splitting loud explosion outside. Jaune could smell smoke and see fire burning outside. The sickening smell of burnt flesh wafted in from outside. Instantly awake, Jaune cautiously peeked out his window. It was utter chaos in the Town outside, fire was burning from many houses. It seemed that explosions were still ongoing and the town square had been decimated. Dark figures were running everywhere in the darkness and Jaune gagged as he saw some people blown apart and lying in prices on the ground. Some not even recognizable as humans but more like a puddle of blood and gore. What was happening?

Nero Arc burst into the room suddenly, Wielding his Dust pistols, a wild look in his eyes as he scanned the room for a threat. "Dad? What's going on... Why are there explosions and shootings outside, what's going on...? Dad!" Jaune was losing it, his voice beginning to fray as he began to panic. Suddenly, Nero Arc appeared to awaken form his trance, and quickly grabbed hold of Jaune, " Jaune, JAUNE! CALM DOWN. YOU NEED TO DO WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO YESTERDAY. GET THE CHEST AND THE LETTER. THERE IS A BULLHEAD READY TO TAKE YOU TO SAFETY ON THE HILL WHERE WE TRAIN. YOU HAVE TO GO! NOW!"

Jaune was snapped out of his stunned state. "B... BUT WHY?" he did not get a chance to continue as there was an explosion directly outside the house ans a horrific shriek echoed through the chaos of the house. Jaune's mother Elizabeth was screaming! Nero Arc's eyes widened in shock before he shook Jaune to calm him down. "Listen, Jaune, do what you need to do. You promised me yesterday! GO!" Pushing Jaune towards the closet where the precious chest was, Nero Arc retrieved Crocea Mors off his back and shoved it into Jaune's arms along with a cylinder made of metal with what seemed to be a roll of brown, ancient paper inside. "Protect these with your life, Jaune. I'm sorry to force this on you, but you must leave. FIND OZPIN AND GIVE HIM THESE... Jaune was on the verge of tears as he was pushed away from his father towards the exit, carrying the chest in his arms. Nero's desperate attempts to talk were interrupted when a man clad in combat suit burst in cradling a Dust rifle. Aiming it at Jaune, who stood frozen in shock.!

*Blam*

*Thud*

There was a loud shot and Jaune closed his eyes, preparing for death. But he was still alive, opening his eyes again he saw the soldier dead on the floor with a hole through his head and Nero Arc standing with his Dust guns still smoking. "GO, JAUNE GOOOOOOOO!" Nero roared at his son. Jaune was shocked out of his reverie and began to mechanically run out when he heard Nero say, almost calmly and lovingly,"Remember Jaune, your mother and I are proud of you, no matter what you do, We'll always be there for you. We love you, son. We love you. " Jaune saw his father with tears trailing down his ragged face as Nero turned around and came charged off into the smoke in the direction of explosions and screaming. Jaune never saw his parents again.

Jaune fled the Town, leaving behind a scene of chaos, smoke, fire, explosions and death. He fled, nobody noticing the lone dark figure carrying a small chest with a sword strapped to his back and holding a scroll cylinder. Nobody noticed the Bullhead lifting off into the sky with its lone passenger staring into the town, which had become a raging inferno. And nobody saw the lone figure sobbing his heart out at his loss in the Bullhead Airship's cabin, the lone boy with no more parents to shower love and affection upon, the lonely soul with no one left.

** ANNNNNND CUT! **

**I did this chapter early because i got enough reviews to keep me going and I may write again soon. But hopefully I can get more reviews which really help motivate me. Cmon guys there are so many more hits on the story than reviews. Do drop 1 please. It helps. Constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thanks. **


	4. Chapter 4

**On the Airship back to Beacon... **

The Assassin was tossing and turning on his seat, painful dreams plaguing his slumber. His eyes spin around rapidly under his eyelids and he was sweating uncontrollably shivering as the cold air from the Airship blew against his sweat. He was suffering.

Ruby Rose stared at the blonde haired hooded Assassin on the Airship seat opposite her and her older sister, watched him toss and turn, suffering under the torture of what must have been horrific dreams. "Yang, are you sure we can't help him? Look, he's suffering so badly."

The blonde haired girl next to Ruby reluctantly said," But he may not want our help. Some people are very independent, like a porcupine, try to get closer and you might be hurt... "

Ruby sighed," Look at him, Yang, he's obviously suffering. We've gotta help him, I can't bear to sit here watch him. We've gotta wake him up. " The blonde haired sibling of Ruby Rose sighs and gets up, walking towards the suffering Assassin.

But someone was there was there first.

Cardin Winchester, heir to Winchester house scowled as he watched the hooded Assassin leap into the Airship. " That fool thinks he can outshine me by making the best entrance. He's just a weakling, look at him shivering on that seat. I'll show him what it means to be a real man." Hefting his huge mace, the Winchester walks towards the Assassin with the gait of a predator stalking his prey. As he got closer to the blue-eyed Assassin, he heard the hooded teen muttering, "No... No... Please, Dad, M.. mom, don't don't leave me... D... Dont" as tears started to form around Jaune's eyes under his hood.

Snickering, Cardin took 2 steps forward and pulled Jaune's hood down and woke him with a start. Jaune was disorientated, having been dragged from the realm of dreams forcefully, he shook his head and cleared his senses, noticing the scowling, mocking face in front of his face. Cardin Winchester. Cardin smirked as he hefted his mace. "What's wrong, little boy? Miss you Mommy? Daddy? Is wittle boy missing his mommy and daddy? "

Silence reigns in the Airship. Everyone now paying attention to the confrontation. Ruby and Yang, standing behind Cardin are shocked at the cruelty and sheer coldness of the treatment Cardin dished out to Jaune.

"Awwwwwwwww... IS wittle blondie sad his daddy isn't here? Daddy's gone a hunting... Gone a Hunting..." Cardin sneered. Across the cabin, people begin to sit up and take notice, especially a GREEN-EYED, REDHAIRED, (CLUE... LOL) armored girl who prepares to intervene.

But in vain. Jaune's face is replaced from an emotional visage to a cold, dark mask. The face of the Assassin. Jaune calmly pulls his hood back on. An ominous aura encompasses the Airship, sending shivers down everyone's spines as the hooded Assassin rises off his seat and stares down the hulking muscle-bound Winchester wielding his mace. Having had enough, Cardin shakes off his sense of Dread and attacks, swinging his mace towards the Assassin.

"Mistake one. " The Assassin hisses. " Never choreograph your attack." At the last moment the Assassin smoothly leans back, Matrix-style and cleanly dodges the blow. With a swift chop to the wrist, Cardin's hand is frozen, a swift nerve paralysis strike to the nerve centre renders him immobile. Jaune spins and deals out a powerful roundhouse kick, charged with Aura and send the huge Winchester flying back, crashing into the side of the Airship.

Silence.

Cardin's friends and fellow allies look stunned. Their gang leader had been dispatched with such relative ease! They leap off their seats, unsheathe their weapons and attack the Assassin standing there calmly.

"Mistake 2. Never attack an Assassin in a tight group. " The hooded figure snarls with a hint of steel behind his voice. The Assassin reaches into his cloak and withdraws a small circular sphere. He throws it down to the floor as the crowd of wild attackers reach him. A dark, cloud of smoke envelops the crowd.

Russel Thrush looks around rapidly. "Where di-" He never finishes his question. The last thing the Mohawk-sporting boy sees is a flash of metal. *Smash* *Thud* 1 down.

Dove Bronzewing hears his comrade go down and wildly slashes away at the smoke. Clearing enough smoke to see a glance of a speeding shadow and... A Metal armored fist... *Crash* *Thud* 2 down.

Sky Lark, seeing his brown and green haired allies go down roars in defiance and swings his halberd in a circle around him, still unable to see anything in the thick smoke. *Snikt* He hears something unfolding and sees a Hidden Blade deflect his much heavier weapon with ease before a swift counterattack sends him to the floor in a daze. 3 down.

When the smoke finally clears, the cabins' passengers stare at the pile of unconscious, incapacitated fools who had dared to assault the Assassin. Jaune Arc stands in the middle of them, without a single scratch on his cloaked and hooded body. Untouched. Undefeated. Unarmed. The cabin gasps as they realise that 1 Assassin has disarmed a horde of enemies without drawing his War Glaives, Bow or his gleaming Sword strapped to his back. Jaune smirks as he retracts his Hidden Blade, the 6 inch, ornately crafted blade the only weapon exposed in the battle.

He stretches, regarding the unconscious pile of fools, and calmly thanks them for providing an outlet for his negative energy. "And I was holding back." With that parting riposte, he turns to return to his seat. But Cardin was not done.

Cardin Winchester recovered sufficiently to pick himself off the ground. Only to watch his allies get completely thrashed in a smoky cloud. Leaving the Assassin Untouched. Snarling in rage, the heavily armored Winchester picks up his mace and smashes it down on the Assassin from behind in a cowardly, sneak attack. The green-eyed, red-haired girl from before, seeing the impending backstab, tries to warn the Assassin, but is too slow.

*Snikt* Jaune unsheathes his Hook Blade, using the small hook on the end to catch the backstab with an impossibly fast spin and kick, easily parrying the huge Mace's strike and with a swift flick, Cardin is disarmed, the mace sent skittering on the floor away. The cabin is floored at this display of reflexes and Strength. Jaune grins, but it is not a warm, comforting smile. It is the grimace of a predator descending on its prey. The cold, ruthless smirk of the Hunter stalking his helpless prey. Cardin gulps in fear, desperately backing away from the deadly apparition closing in on him, the ornately crafted, deadly sharp Hidden Blade just waiting for his blood to adorn it...

With a quick leap forward, Jaune attacks. *Slash! * *Plop*

Cardin had closed his eyes, prepared for his imminent demise when he felt a cool breeze down below. W.. Wait cool breeze?

He looked down only to see his armor cleaved in half by the Aura-enhanced strike. And his underclothes sliced conveniently in half, revealing his underwear, his "Tighty-Whities" for all to see.

"Mistake 3. NEVER insult my parents. Or you will pay dearly. " The hooded Assassin smirks and says in a deadly tone.

The cabin explodes into uproarious laughter, laughing and clapping at the Assassins performance. As Cardin stands alone in the centre of the cabin, still shell-shocked as his armor and clothes dangle helplessly and the pile of defeated fools just picking themselves off the floor Jaune smirks under his hood as the likes of Yang roar with laughter, clutching their stomachs and leaking tears.

**20 minutes later... **

The students of Beacon stream off the Airship docked at Beacon Airship berths, still laughing and giggling at the humorous incident on the Airship, clapping the Assassin on his back and giving him thumbs-up for his feat as he sheepishly scratches his hair at the attention heaped upon him.

As he steps off the Airship, Jaune is approached by Yang and Ruby as they wait for the star of the impromptu show on the Airship to appear. Swinging an arm across Jaune's shoulders, Yang winks at Jaune, " Nice one, Lady killer. I've never had such a fun ride in my life before. And I thought the ride to Beacon would be Boring! Hahaha..." Jaune sheepishly slides away from Yang's advances as he waves at Ruby who introduces herself and her sister. "Hi, that's my sister Yang Xiao Long" , the blonde girl smiles and waves. "And I'm Ruby Rose." Jaune grins as he ruffles Ruby's red-handed hair as she scowls in displeasure and pouts. "Hey!" Jaune laughs at the adorable girl. "I'm Jaune Arc." He replies in an affectionate tone.

"C'mon, let's go, guys." Yang says as she strides down the path to Beacon, while Ruby and Jaune who has let down his hood follow and talk behind. Ruby excitedly gawks at Jaune's weaponry, especially the War Glaives. "Wow, are those Glaives? They are so cooooooll! Wow, is that a sword?" She squeals adorably, geelong out at Jaune's extensive weaponry. Yang hangs back and ruffles Ruby's hair as she tells Jaune, "Sorry about that, she's a weapon geek."

Jaune smiles gently and warmly,"It's ok. I understand."

Ruby interrupts," C'mon Jaune what else you got?" Jaune grins as he grabs his Glaives and with a flick, the dual C shaped weapons expose their deadly spikes and shimmer with raw power. "They can be thrown like a Frisbee, and will return in a loop to you after you throw it and it will slice through anything and everything to return to you." Jaune says proudly, evidently proud of his weapons.

Ruby's eyes gleam as she beholds the "pure awesomeness! ", Jaune smiles at the cuteness as he retracts the Glaives' teeth and restraps them to his back and brings forth his Bow. "THIS IS TRINITY. My explosive Bow. It can fire explosive Dust arrows in streams of three at once. So I can have 3 streaks of explosive firepower at any one time. The Blue Dust crystal sitting in its centre functions as an aiming aid as well as a provider of unlimited Dust. It collects the minute Dust particles in the air and condenses them into Dust explosive Arrowheads. All I need are the bolts in my Quiver. "

" COOL!" Ruby squeals, " almost unlimited supply of explosive Dust!" Yang interjects, "Even I have to admit, that IS pretty neat." Jaune smiles and mecha-shifts TRINITY back into its smaller curved form and holsters it back on. He then unsheathes his Hidden Blade and his Hook Blade respectively from his right and left armor gauntlets, "You saw these in action just now, they may be small and lightweight, but they can deflect much heavier weapons and are perfect for scaling walls or obstacles and stabbing."

Finally, Ruby points out Crocea Mors strapped to Jaune's back next to Trinity's compacted form. "That?," Jaune answers, " is my family inheritance as an Arc. My ancestor Elias Arc created it and passed it down to me through generation after Generation, it never needs polishing or cleaning and is almost impossible to break." Ruby squeals as she explodes in pure energy and awe at Jaune's extensive weaponry.

Yang rolls her eyes as she catches Ruby's hood and holds her in as the young girl scrambles around squealing in excitement and awe., "She's like that. Always full of energy." She confides to Jaune, who smiles at Ruby's innocence. And then Jaune says, "um... Weren't we supposed to head to the stage for a briefing?"

*Awkward silence*

The trio look around and realise that they had been left behind, too immersed in their conversation to notice where they were going. Crap.

They sprint off towards the stage, Jaune surprisingly able to keep up with Ruby's Semblance of insane speed as he pumps Aura from his huge reserves into his legs, pushing himself forward.

Smiling to himself, he thinks, "Looks like it's gonna be an interesting year."

**ANDDD CUUUUUTTT... **

**I'm gonna end here. Next chapter will tell more of Jaune's history as well as Beacons initiation an introduction. This chapter sums up the prologue and shows Jaune's combat prowess and weaponry as well as introducing Yang and Ruby's well as hints of Pyrrha(if you look closely) . I hope to bring in more other characters and more in depth stuff next chapter. Btw, I'm gonna try and include more combat in Initiation next. Btw, I'm still new to this, so Romance will have to wait until I fully define Jaune's character and find the Most compatible match. Until then, I hope you can give me some feedback and reviews to tide me through and help me streamline my story. Thanks for reading... See ya? **


	5. Chapter 5

**Before we start, I'm so so sorry that I did not update this for a while but give me a chance. I just finished my H2 Math paper today and I have Economics tomorrow. I managed to squeeze in this chapter though. Hope it makes up for the wait. Sorry and please review to let me know whatever you thought or felt about the story. Without further ado, let's go. **

** Memory Interface- Assassin Training and Beacon Initiation**

**Beacon's stage... **

Students began to gather at the stage in preparation for the Headmaster Ozpin's address, all eagerly awaiting for the famous Hunter to appear on stage. The students had been maintaining a steady level of excited chatter and conversations but all these died down into a respectful silence as the long awaited, famous Headmaster of Beacon combat school appeared. Professor Ozpin was a very enigmatic man, with slightly faded silver hair and a pale complexion. Grasping his trademark cane and the ever-present cup of coffee which he always tended to sip from, the Headmaster cut an imposing figure on stage. As he began his speech, Jaune Arc, having barely made it in time into the hall with his two new friends, Ruby and Yang, smirked as he saw his Mentor sipping from his cup of coffee as he fondly remembered the many things they went through together, with Ozpin as his Mentor and Jaune as his Apprentice. Ozpin was the reason Jaune had managed to mature and become the strong-willed, skilled Assassin he was now. Smiling now, Jaune sank into the embrace of memories as Ozpin's speech went on...

** Memory Interface- 8 months after Destruction and raze of AshTown-Home of the Arcs. **

The weak rays of the sun cast multiple grey shadows through the canopy of the thick forest. A Grimm-Infested forest. It was a quiet evening for the lone figure currently traversing through the forest, heading deeper into the darker, gloomier zones of the area. But not for long. With the onset of night, and the protection and safety granted by the steadily weakening Sunlight gone, the normal creatures of the forest faded away to safety and the darker, more dangerous Nocturnal Grimm awakened. The figure, who had been effortlessly weaving through the many obstacles the forest put in his way slowed down and finally stopped in the middle of a medium-sized clearing in the dank, now almost pitch black inkiness of the forest. The figure did not lose his composure at the multiple red, gleaming eyes rapidly appearing in the darkness surrounding him. The figure instead reached for two weapons, C-shaped discs securely strapped and holstered to the lightly armored person.

With a quick flick, the deadly weapons activated, exposing their serrated, razor sharp teeth sprouting from all along the edges of the weapons. War Glaives. These unique weapons were notoriously hard to use and often required much time and effort in training to use them. But in the hands of a Master, few weapons offered the same flexibility, range, and strength for the relatively tiny weight they burdened the user with. The wielder of the weapons sank into a light, swift defensive stance as the creatures of the Grimm surged out from the darkness. The lone figure waited patiently as the monsters surged closer and closer and closer... Before he struck. With his stance flickering outwards, leaving behind a blur of movement, his assault was swift and conserving in energy, striking down monsters left and right as he dealt out devastating slashes and cuts in the seemingly endless horde of enemies. He ducked underneath the first few Beowolves that had lunged at him, claws outstretched, and ruthlessly lashed out at them, slicing huge cuts in their flesh, exposing their open wounds. Fluidly whirling around another over-eager attack, he sliced at the undersides of the pair of Grimm with ruthless efficiency, and then vaulted high, slicing apart the face of another Beowolf.

In the first few seconds of the lethal, fast paced Dance of Death, 5 of the numerous members of the Beowolf pack were dead, and two others were grievously wounded, gushing out blood from deep, fatal wounds slashed open, exposed to the world by the deadly, razor sharp teeth of the Warglaives weilded by the lightly armored figure, who had yet to receive a single scratch on his black, form-fitting armor.

The Beowolf pack halted their charge and inspected their lone adversary cautiously, deciding to surround him instead. This solitary, weak looking foe had decimated their numbers with ease. The predators had become the prey. The fact that so many of their pack were killed and wounded in less than a few seconds, and by a seemingly weak party, dropped their confidence level a notch.

The figure who was shrouded in shadows and the darkness seemed perfectly content to wait, despite the wolves slowly but surely surrounding and enveloping him, where they could attack and converge upon him in any direction. As one wave of Darkness seeded with White Bone-Armor masks and Evil red eyes among the Black fur, the Beowolves charged as one at the figure. The figure looked up then, revealing a lean, angular face with just a hint of feminine features which had been worn away with constant physical training. His Ice-Blue eyes hardened with suppressed strength at the sight of his charging enemies. With just as much speed, Jaune Arc rushed towards his enemies, leaping high and slashing the snarling, salivating jaws in front of him with 4 blindingly quick strikes and leaving the quartered Grimm in hunks of warm flesh on the ground. Jaune dodged around a Beowolf's lunge and quickly deflected a claw attack with his left Warglaive, and quickly sliced off the offending limb with a lightning quick strike. He rolled under a Beowolf's lunge and gutted another one.

The sole descendant of the Arcs then became a whirlwind of destruction, blocking, dodging, slashing and gutting each monster of the Grimm. He hacked and slashed swathes in the Monster horde, an unstoppable storm of fury and death spiraling and wreaking havoc among the insatiable horde of monsters. Finally, one of the stronger Beowolves, the leader of the Pack, the Alpha Beowolf lunged at his back, regardless of any injuries or the threat of an instant demise brought about by the arcs of death served out from the Warglaives whistling through the air, broke past Jaune's guard and clawed him on his back, ripping through his light armor and scoring a rent in his flesh. Jaune clenched his teeth in agony as he felt warm blood trickling down his back and let out a groan of pain. With his eyes lighting up in fury and rage at being wounded, adrenaline pumped through the warrior and he leaped 2 metres up, spun about and hurled his Warglaives out with all his might, sending the twin tools of death ripping through the horde of monsters in a wide Arc before spiraling in smaller circles as it cut down the Monster horde before being snatched out of the air by Jaune. His firey white Aura flared as it sealed and healed the wound and Jaune shook off the effects of the phantom pains as he gripped his Glaives hard in his clenched fists, eyes scanning across the putrid, blood soaked clearing covered in a huge carpet of dead, freshly killed Beowolf's bodies.

The remaining Beowolves scuttled away, their huge army of more than a hundred Beowolves massacred to barely half a dozen, heavily injured, cowardly Grimm who scrambled away from the Whirlwind of Death that had totally cleaned out their ranks to lick at their wounds. Jaune hissed in pain as he peeled off his blood soaked armor and revealed the still healing wound, the skin there a pale, barely healed color. Jaune replaced into his cloak and withdrew a Healing Herb-infused med patch and slapped it on the wound. Cursing at his underestimating of his enemies, he reassembled his armor and set off, scaling a huge tree at the edges of the clearing. His gauntleted fingers easily pulled his toned and muscle-bound, yet lithe body up as he swiftly scaled branches and bark, liberating a few edible fruits on the way up. As he reached the top and emerged on top of the canopy of the tree, the shattered rays of the moon lighting up his path, Jaune sat down in a comfortable patch of leaves and sighed in weariness as he unstrapped his armor and weapons and relaxed in the soft leaves. He calmly bit away at the fruit he picked on the way up as he admired the Dark Skies glinting with stars. He would resume his mission af.. Aft.. After a short nap... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

**The next morning... **

The bright sunlight shined down on the peacefully sleeping Arc curled up in a ball on the Canopy of the forest as birds and other assorted animals emerged from their hiding places and the forest came to life again. Jaune wearily opened his eyes as the bright light illuminated his world and he slowly dragged his body up and shook off the last signs of deep sleep. Stretching and cracking his back, he rearmed himself, attaching his armor back on. With a quick bite from yesterday's leftover fruit, he stood at the edge of the tree branch and looked out over the treetops at his target, acquiring his bearings. This particular tree was chosen for its huge height, towering across all others in this particular section of the forest, soaring hundreds of metres up in the sky, casting a huge shadow on all other shorter trees. Jaune squinted his eyes as he narrowed his vision at his intended destination. He spotted some tiny figures resembling stone ruins in the distance and he confirmed visually that that was his destination. With his bearings and target confirmed, he stood up from his perch on the outermost branch of the tree, his feet right at the edge of the branch, barely 2 inches from dropping off his precarious perch. Jaune closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, a trick taught to him by his Assassin mentor. He was about to perform a technique and trick taught to him by his Mentor. The Leap Of Faith.

The signature move used by the Assassins in stealthily taking out targets, it required split second timing, strength and maneuverability in midair, and of course a wellspring of Courage and a little bit of Insanity and disregard for ones health. Jaune, having calmed himself down sufficiently, remembered that he had once performed that very move, almost instinctively, without any training during happier times, as he knocked his father to the ground and finally triumphed in the race home. Jaune felt his heart clench and tears beginning to appear at the edges of his vision and he swiftly purged the wild emotions from his mind, his mind becoming a calm sea again. No time to reminisce about his childhood again. He calmly walked to the edge of the branch and with a breath, jumped off the edge.

With the wind whistling past his years as he thundered downwards towards the rapidly approaching forest canopy below him, Jaune outstretched his arms and his clothes and armor thundering and flapping in the wind he concentrated, channeling Aura into his legs and arms, twisting his torso I to the right angle for touchdown. Jaune blew past leaves and branches, a plummeting missile with white Aura flaring around him, and he impacted with perfect technique ok the ground, on one knee parallel to the ground and one hand outstretched in front of him, balancing his body. After performing a flawless Leap Of Faith, his body still surging with adrenaline, Jaune statightened up, adjusted his armor and set off towards the temple ruins in the far distance. If he hurried, he could make it before noon. With this positive thought, he channeled Aura into his powerful leg muscles and they propelled him forwards, surging past trees and bushes, armored boots lightly touching the ground before propelling him forwards, blasting past the forest towards his destination.

**Timeskip: 3.5 Hours later... **

Jaune Arc burst out of the woods in a all out sprint and skidded to a halt at the edge of the majestic stone ruins. These ruins were rumoured to be the resting place of and ancient artifact of power Deep in the forests. Many people had tried but had failed to penetrate through the deadly, Grimm-infested depths of the forest, but he had formed through and his venture had paid off. Twin, partially Damaged stone Spires rose up into the sky with several small stone pillars surrounding it in multiple circles which interlocked and intersected one another, forming an intricate, mysteriously beautiful pattern. The ruins however lacked a central structure which should have stood in the place of the Spires. Jaune frowned. His troubles were not over. He has a freaking puzzle to solve to get to his prize. Dammit..

** Ok, he guys. This is about as much as I can crank out now. It is only half of this memory interface so far. Sorry, I promise I'll get part 2 of this out. This explains Jaune's emotional aftermath of Jaune's close escape from the Destruction of Ashville where he used to live. The next part will start to cover his rocky recovery and his mission to retrieve something. This something is related to one of his weapons btw, lol just a clue there. A but of puzzle solving to balance out the combat. I don't like characters with too much brawn but no BRAINS. LOL. Anyway, I tried to refine Jaune's combat style and his initial weapons his Warglaives and their usage. Please help me by telling me what you thought about it. This part will probably consist of 3 parts. Alternating between memories and current happenings at Beacon. Chapters will split between Jaune's mini mission here and his past training under Ozpin, part 2 in Beacon and the interaction and intro of other characters and finally INITIATION! I will try to include more in depth stuff and continue to refine my combat scenes but do tell me what you think or would like to see. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish some requests. P. S. I love reading reviews, all advice is WELCOME AND REWARDED WITH DIGITAL candy. Lolz. See ya! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, this is part 2 of the previous chapter. First off, i would like to apologize for the huge gap in updating... i just finished my end of year exams, and frankly, I didn't do that well... Anyways, I'm back now. This takes off from Jaune's mini-mission and he encounters the stone ruins. I plan to balance out his memories and present ongoing happenings so yeah. BTW, before I begin writing Initiation at Beacon. This is important guys. Please vote in your reviews if you want me to follow canon teams or my own combination. No OCS so far, but I may include some in future as enemies. If I'm in the mood. So please indicate whether canon or not in your reviews. And I will make the final decision. This is important and will affect pairing... Without further ado, let's enter again... **

**Memory Interface- Stone Ruins/Puzzle **

"Dammit, Mentor Ozpin. You never give me the easy jobs, don't you? Now we have a freaking puzzle to solve here... " Jaune growled as he carefully threaded around the edges of the Stone Temple Ruins. " Nice view though. " Jaune wasn't exaggerating. The Stone Temple, although decayed with time, still harbored a mysterious, out-of-this-world feel with its brilliant design. The stone bricks, he could tell were once beautifully crafted and perfectly polished, he could see hints of gleaming surfaces under the greenery and plants growing over it. The twin Spires were the most majestic of all, winding around each other, never touching, but coiling around like a never ending staircase in a snake like formation. 8 fallen pillars were spread out evenly in a circle around the 2 Spires.

The whole place seemed to defy the normal standards and types of construction and radiated a powerful, mysterious aura. Jaune suspected that this was built long before civilization arrived here. The rumors about this place possessing an Artifact of great power, was probably true. His Mentor, Ozpin had heard of this place and had sent Jaune, his only Apprentice to seek out and retrieve whatever secrets it harbored, despite the multitudes of like minded, adventurous people venturing into the forest but never returning. Jaune personally didn't mind though, things like this added to the spice of life. After all, what's life without living it to the fullest? So, Jaune trained and trained for this mission under Ozpin's tutelage, until he was deemed fit for such a mission.

** Memory Interface-Jaune's Assassin Training. 3 months after Destruction of Ashville-Home to the Arcs...**

Jaune awoke with a start. He blearily rubbed his eyes, and shook off the remains of his lethargy. He rolled off his meagre bunk and stood up. He was living in a sparse, spartan room with only a small, old bunk, a tiny table and a weapons rack and a cupboard for his clothes. Jaune grabbed a rough cloth off the rack and his clothing for the day and set off for the lake outside the small cabin on the edge of the wilderness. He lived in a small cabin, next to a forest and a lake with a small clearing where he had cleared away many trees and bushes for a training ground. After washing up, he dressed and started the short jog back to his cabin. Jaune gauged the time from a stick placed on the ground, a sundial which used the sun's position in the sky and a sticks shadow to indicate the time. Just in time.

Within 5 minutes a Bullhead Airship appeared in the distance and touched down flawlessly in the small clearing where Jaune had stood at attention, clad in dark colored trainee attire. The Bullhead's hatch hissed open and a grey/silver haired man, holding a cane stepped out.

"Mentor Ozpin, Sir. " At ease. I hope you are ready for today's training. " Ozpin quietly spoke in a light tone, his stance relaxed. But Jaune was not fooled by that, He knew his Mentor was like a resting cobra, hidden strength ready to strike at any time. He had been on the receiving end of that force many times.

" Jaune, you may begin your warm-ups. "

Jaune nodded and set off at a swift pace, beginning the first of his thrice daily 10 mile run. When he initially started this grueling training, Ozpin had mercilessly whipped him into shape, loudly denouncing his physical ineptness and standards, Jaune had liked to think that he was already very fit for his age then, but Ozpin had shown him a whole new definition to the words "Physical training" and" Physical Fitness". His Mentor had pushed him through a series of exhausting and grueling trials, pushing him beyond his limits. He had passed out many times during the first few months of the training, but he had gotten used to it over time, and had reached new heights of fitness he had never ever imagined attainable in his previous life. These thoughts and memories swirled in Jaune's mind as he swiftly zipped around the forest, Running laps, threading through and around the forests obstacles, his powerful muscles pushing him forward. With his current levels of fitness, he had not even broken out in a sweat. After finishing his running, he then set out for his next step.

The parkour. His Mentor had personally set up a huge obstacle course just for him, a place he had named "the playground", but it was like no other in the world. It was a large maze, with wooden poles in rows gradually increasing in height, wooden planks balanced and bound to other supports mounted in the ground, much like seesaws suspended over pools of mud. Ropes dangled freely over more mud, and a large rock climbing wall together with wooden poles sticking out horizontally from the walls. Rope cargo nets and bridges linked different sections of the course and as the wind blew, these precarious bridges swayed and shook in the air.

Swings and suspended platforms were arrayed 20 meters above the ground each one a few meters from the next. At the end of the course was a thin 1 centimeter wide taut rope spanning 50 meters across a huge pool of mud 30 meters off the ground, with weighted bags swinging from ropes on both sides, capable of knocking someone off the rope and straight into the pool of mud below. All in all, the most fearsome, elaborate and exhausting obstacle Jaune had ever laid eyes on.

In the beginning, Jaune had lost count of how many times he had lost his balance and gotten knocked out, down into the mud pool, lost count of the number of times he had failed to jump across the gaps between sections, the number of times he had crawled back to his cabin, soaked in during mud, desperately weary and on the brink of collapsing unconscious. But now, he was well used to the rigors of his training. Sending a burst of Aura into his legs. Jaune powered into the beginning of the course. He leaped gracefully from wooden pole to wooden pole, each a meter away from the other and vertically placed in a straight line, increasing in height. Jaune, perfectly balanced, used the balls of his feet to lightly leap on the tips of the poles which were barely 5 centimeters wide, and hop to the end of this part of the course. He rarely lost his balance on these courses now, but he was constantly on his guard. His Mentor had a nasty habit of planting surprises throughout the course. Many times, Jaune had fallen for his tricks, but he had learned to always be on his guard. Traps like motion sensitive spike launchers, deep holes and traps in the forest camouflaged by a thin layer of branches, Jaune was now prepared for any trouble...

Finishing the first course of leaping from the top of each wooden pole to the next pole, Jaune advanced to the next part of the course. The row of planks precariously balanced on a thin horizontal support. Jaune raced along the platforms as they flipped and shook behind him, threatening to send him catapulting into the mud pools should he lose his balance. Successfully crossing the row of planks, Jaune leaped for the first rope suspended 5 meters in front of the last plank in the row of seesaws, and wound his arms around it, using the momentum accumulated from his Aura-fueled leap, Jaune's lithe, sweating body propelled himself forward, swinging from rope to rope not unlike some simian species, relying on upper body strength to push himself forward. after swinging from the last rope, he tackled the next part of the course, the rope cargo bridges.

Cargo nets, resembling large hammocks swayed in the breeze as Jaune leaped onto the first net, precariously regaining his balance before gracefully crossing the net, his feet avoiding the holes between the ropes which the net was made of. Jaune quickly leaped onto the next net before this one sank and trap him due to his weight. After passing a few more nets, he reached the rock wall.

Scaling the craggy, rocky wall, where the morning dew had coalesced into moisture and had been absorbed by the rock, rendering the roughly-hewn surfaces of the wall to be wet and slippery, was an immense challenge to climb. Jaune dug his fingers into nooks and crannies in the rock, leaping sideways from handhold to handhold along the rock, finally reaching the top of the wall. He gazed down at the last obstacle course, a single, wet, taut rope from the top of the rock wall running all the way down to where Mentor Ozpin was waiting calmly, sippping his ever-present cup of coffee. Jaune stepped a little back, before running forward and catapulting himsef forwards and racing down the rope, using his centre of gravity to help him balance on the small tightrope. After reaching his destination, Jaune leaped off the end of the rope and bowed to his mentor.

"Mentor Ozpin, Sir. Parkour course completed."

"Excellent, Apprentice, your fitness has reached new heights, we shall begin combat practice."

Jaune retrieved his weapons, Crocea Mors and strapped his Glaives to his back and prepared as his Mentor set aside his cup and spun his cane leisurely, limbering up. With that, the Mentor and his Apprentice began the day's sparring and training...

**Back to Mission at Stone Ruins...**

Jaune grinned as he reminisced about his torturous and grueling training he had underwent before he was sent on this mission, Mentor Ozpin was a tough and unforgiving man, but the training had paid off handsomely. Jaune wholeheartedly agreed with this thought as he carefully circled around the Ruins, examining it carefully. There had to be reason why none of the explorers who had embarked on the same mission as him had returned, and he remained on his guard. Finally, Jaune spotted a small pillar at the edges of the ruins. the pillar was about a meter tall, vertical with a smooth surface facing him. Jaune knelt down and placed a hand on the ground, utilizing one of the skills taught to him by his Mentor.

The Eagle Pulse.

Jaune flared his powerful Aura, sending a light pulse of almost undetectable Aura out, scanning and searching for traces of any danger. This detection technique was extremely useful for detecting lifeforms, be it creatures of the Light or Darkness. Grimm, with their lack of Aura, manifested as dark, cold spots in his radar, while creatures possessing Aura showed up as various colors on his minds radar. The coast was clear. Jaune felt a strange attraction to this particular pillar, something was reaching out to his Aura. He frowned, following his instincts. Slowly, carefully, he placed his hand on the smooth surface of the pillar and channeled some of his Aura into the pillar...

Immediately, the little pillar flared a bright white light, the exact hue of his Aura and sank rapidly into the ground, triggering a loud rumbling and clanking as ancient technology activated and a humming was heard in the air. Leaping back as if scalded, Jaune drew his twin weapons, his Glaives and unsheathed their sharp teeth along the edges of the weapon with a quick flick and stood in a combat ready stance, ready for anything. His Eagle Pulse flaring again and again, searching for targets. The 8 fallen pillars suddenly reared up, rising in unison, forming a huge wall around the Spires as the humming in the air grew to a crescendo. Finally, the pillars rose up in a completed arc and slammed together, forming a solid wall around the Spires, shaking off decades of dust and plant growth, forming a majestic pillared wall. Jaune watched carefully as the Spires began shaking as the humming sounds in the area grew to a subliminal thrumming in the air and the Spires began a beautiful uncoiling around each other, forming 2 vertical monuments which then slammed together to form an Obelisk of silvery-grey metal. The thrumming in the air halted. Jaune narrowed his eyes as an eerie silence enveloped the area.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Jaune's feet rumbled and began to shift, startling Jaune as he leaped back and raced to the edges of the clearing. Just in time. The whole parcel of land began to shift. The circular piece of land, spun around like a coin flipping sides, revealing a metallic layer under the soil and dirt. the Obelisk and its armor retracted under the circle of land as it turned, barely retracting enough to avoid blocking the transition of the Ruins flipping sides. Finally, the process was completed, revealing a clean sheet of metal shimmering and gleaming in the light. the whole piece of land had flipped sides, revealing a clean, hidden metal layer under the Ruins. The Obelisk had retracted underground now, leaving no trace of its presence. all that was left was a clean, circular piece of metal where the Ruins had once stood.

Suddenly, from the center of the metallic island, a circle of metal began rising up, followed by a second circle around that, and a third, resembling a stepped, circular pyramid where at the peak, a small platform rose up displaying a shimmering object.

Jaune narrowed his eyes, funneling his Aura into his eyes, and the fuzzy, shimmering image sharpened into a clear, visible image. A Bow. A large Longbow, with a gleaming multifaceted crystal which shimmered as it change colors, from fiery red hue, to a clear, blue color, to a flickering, crackling yellow and a shimmering, cool white. The magnificent weapon was made of a dark, gleaming black metal, with strips of the same crystal veins running along it. It was beautiful. The weapon harbored an Infinitas Dust Crystal. This Crystal was rumored to be able to generate any type of Dust from converting the existing Dust in the air to form high quality, pure Dust, be it Fire, Water, Lightning or Ice. Jaune gazed in awe and admiration at the amazing weapon. It was, for all intents and purposes, his to take.

"Whoa, such an amazing weapon,just mine to take like that?"Jaune wondered, still in awe and shock.

As if on cue, the circles reacted and retracted their edges, revealing a dark cavity within the structure. Jaune squinted warily into the darkness as he readied his stance. A pair of Blood-Red eyes opened its eyes in the dark, as an earth-shattering roar emanated from the space. A huge monster emerged from the structure. Howling at the bright light blinding it, the huge Grimm roared in blood-lust and rage as it sighted Jaune Arc at the edges of the clearing. The creature resembled a huge slimy bull, with drool dripping from its savage jaws as it took in the sight of its target. Monstrous, gleaming eyes set in its meaty head, with huge curled horns, deadly sharp at the tips, the creature resembled a huge, disfigured Minotaur from old Greek legends, and it roared another challenge at Jaune.

Jaune sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. " I just had to open my big, damn mouth."

**Aaand cut!**

**I'm**** sorry, but this all i have for now. I will resume the story and write Beacons's Initiation soon, but i need my readers advice on the teams and partners after Initiation. Anyways, this chapter details Jaune's old adventures. I aim to portray him as an adventurous type, not just any old, cold-blooded, tough as metal Assassin or warrior. I feel he needs more adventures than any old, run-of-the-mill character who is just a skilled, smart fighter lol. Anyways, I apologize for my lack of updates, and please review to tell me what you thought about it and to help me choose teams, partners and potential pairings, whether canon or not when we get to Initiation at Beacon...**

**Seeya! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi, I'm back again. Without further ado, let us journey back into the world of Jaune Arc.**

_**From the last chapter where Jaune remembers his memories of training and his first mission:**_

_As if on cue, the circles reacted and retracted their edges, revealing a dark cavity within the structure. Jaune squinted warily into the darkness as he readied his stance. A pair of Blood-Red eyes opened its eyes in the dark, as an earth-shattering roar emanated from the space. A huge monster emerged from the structure. Howling at the bright light blinding it, the huge Grimm roared in blood-lust and rage as it sighted Jaune Arc at the edges of the clearing. The creature resembled a huge slimy bull, with drool dripping from its savage jaws as it took in the sight of its target. Monstrous, gleaming eyes set in its meaty head, with huge curled horns, deadly sharp at the tips, the creature resembled a huge, disfigured Minotaur from old Greek legends, and it roared another challenge at Jaune._

_Jaune sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. " I just had to open my big, damn mouth."_

The monstrous Grimm lowered its lethal, sharp horns and bellowed a challenge as it charged head-first at the considerably smaller target of Jaune Arc. Jaune swore as he leaped out of the way of the rampaging Bull monster, tucking his muscle-bound, hooded and armored body into a ball and rolled out of harm's way. The blond male then straightened up and fluidly hurled one of his Glaives in the direction of the Grimm who had stopped its initial charge and was correcting course to head straight for him. The deadly sharp weapon swiftly cut through the air towards its target with an almost inaudible whistling sound and scored a deep cut through the monsters thick, moist hide before spinning back into the grasp of its wielder. The huge Grimm roared in pain and disbelief at being hurt by such a small thing and lowered its head for another charge. Jaune wasted no time in unleashing both his Glaives at the fast approaching monster and the twin weapons again slashed through muscle, hide and gristle, scoring long rents in the Grimm's sides. But the Grimm never faltered. The humongous monster continued to bear down on the lone hooded figure who stood in its way. Jaune cursed his luck at the lack of stopping power in his weapons. any normal Grimm would have been severely incapacitated by the deadly attack, but this was clearly no normal Grimm. Snatching his dual weapons out of the air, Jaune funneled Aura into his legs and performed a huge leap over the charging monster and kicked the Grimm's head as he vaulted over it. The Grimm stumbled from the force of the Aura-enhanced blow and Jaune used the opportunity to analyse the monster for weak points to attack and exploit.

Thick, muscle-bound body, Black Bone armor instead of the usual White Bone Armor, extremely deadly horns and sharp spikes along the shoulders, head and torso, strong but short legs, red, squinting eyes set back in its head with bone protecting but obscuring part of its vision...

Got it.

Jaune smirked as he reached under his cloak and retrieved a few smoke bombs which he flung at his feet, releasing a cloud of grey, vision-obscuring smoke which irritated and aggravated the sense of smell with its sharp, tangy and strong odour. Jaune, under the cover and protection of his cloak and hood, hid in the fog and relentlessly lashed out at the disorientated Grimm spinning in circles, desperately trying to track down its elusive target. The Glaives were sent soaring out again and again, scoring deep cuts in the Bone Armor and hide of the Grimm, releasing foul-smelling blood from the monster's body. When the smoke finally cleared, Jaune was still unharmed by any of the Grimm's clumsy, disorientated attacks in the fog while the Grimm was staggering under the effects of the many deep cuts and rents from the damage sustained from the razor sharp teeth of the Glaives. Jaune sank into a defensive stance and watched the monster warily as it howled and whimpered from the devastating pain inflicted upon it. Jaune rushed forward, his Glaives poised to execute the killing blow when the Grimm's eyes flashed a blinding red, sending out a pulse of dark energy, which exploded outward in a quick blast. Jaune leaped back in shock and quickly activated his Aura, forming a glowing white barrier made of ethereal, white light. The Light of his soul, his Aura. A blinding explosion occurred at the glowing white sphere around Jaune where the Dark energy collided with the Light. Jaune was sent flying back from the force of the explosion, his body sent tumbling to the edge of the clearing after smashing straight through several trees.

Jaune snarled in agony as he coughed out blood from his mouth, shaking off his disorientation, he stood up shakily, using a nearby tree trunk as support. Clearing the fog of pain and agony shrouding his consciousness, he shook his head and set aside his pain and straightened his throbbing and aching body, refocusing on the demonic monster that had caused this. The monster was shrouded in a dark, smoky cloud of Dark energy and when the dark cloud finally dissipated, Jaune gasped in shock, hissing in pain and frustration as something grated against his lungs from the sharp action.

The Bull Grimm was unharmed. More than that,its grievous wounds had completely disappeared, each cut and rent in its Black Bone armor and flesh was gone, leaving it unscathed. Also, the monstrous abomination had mutated, more Bone armor covering and protecting its body, leaving no visible weak points, and its horns on its head had transformed into a pair of serrated, battering rams with even sharper tips and reinforced with another layer of Black Bone. It also sported 2 pairs of Red eyes, and its jaws gnashed together, revealing a mouthful of festering teeth. The Grimm had evolved to become something from Jaune's worst nightmare. The mutated abomination snarled its displeasure and roared in bloodlust and rage, and charged Jaune again, with its horns and shoulder Bone armor spikes protruding out, ready to impale the lone Assassin still standing at the edge of the clearing.

Jaune swore and channeled his much depleted Aura reserves into his body, healing most of his wounds, and leapt into the air, barely dodging the Grimm. Despite its size, the speed of which it attacked was tremendous, it charged forward like a train armed with battering rams. Jaune having barely avoided its attack, slashed and sliced at the thick Bone Armor on the top of the creatures body, encountering more resistance this time as the Armor had evolved to be much denser and harder than before. After only dealing out some superficial damage to its armor, Jaune had to leap off the creatures back before it flung him off. Rolling backwards before straightening up again, Jaune snarled in frustration as he sheathed his ineffective Glaives, and drew Crocea Mors, his ancestral sword. The legendary weapon had yet to fail any Arc who had wielded it until now, and Jaune prayed that he would not be the first as he raced forward into the Grimm's charge, sidestepping it and smashing the sword's razor sharp edges along the creatures Armor where the bone was the thinnest. To his utter relief, the weapon easily penetrated and sliced through the enhanced Bone armor with practiced ease, scoring a deep rent in its side, sending a spray of dark, putrid blood out in a spray. Jaune whirled around and stabbed the creature as it charged away from him, roaring in pain and disbelief at the comparably puny weapon that had managed to hurt it. Crocea Mors was wrenched out of his grip and Jaune was forced to relinquish his grip to prevent his wrist getting dislocated. Jaune cursed as he was disarmed, watching Crocea Mors be carried away, still embedded hilt deep in the monster's chest.

"BLOODY F*cking H*ll. I need PLan B. Now!"

Jaune swore as he rolled out of the monsters return charge, as he straightened up after that, he caught sight of a bright flash in his peripheral vision. Taking a closer look, he was reminded of his purpose and mission here. The weapon. The awesome Bow with the Infinitas Dust Crystal. Jaune smiled as he raced across the clearing at an insane pace, funneling what remained of his formidable Aura reserves to his legs as he left a dust trail behind him. Crossing the 100 meters in 6 seconds flat, he halted his Aura enhanced sprint and leapt up to the top of the circular pillar and reached for the Bow. Glancing at the Silver plate embossed next to the weapon and its stand, he noticed a few unfamiliar symbols.

"Τρινιτψ Τηε-Λεγενδ"

As he watched, the symbols reshuffled and blurred to form legible words.

"Trinity The-Legend"

"Trinity." Jaune breathed out in awe and respect at the magnificent weapon. The Bow consisted of 3 arcs. the smallest in the middle was obviously a handhold and the 2 other arcs of metal branched off the edges of the handhold, deadly sharp at the external edges pointing away from the wielder, confirming its capability of being used as a melee weapon. Trinity was made of an unearthly black metal, which seemed to suck in all nearby light, with strips of Infinitas Dust embedded through the metal, which changed colours, glowing a fiery red, ice blue, sparking yellow, radiating an aura of devastating power. As Jaune reverently picked up the weapon the whole weapon flashed a bright white, as if acknowledging its wielder and his Aura.

"Well, Trinity. Let's do this." Jaune said as he lifted the Bow up to eye level, his body instinctively adopting the perfect archer's stance, arms extended, back straightened. The diamond shape of the Infinitas Crystal provided an excellent aiming aid, as Jaune took aim and followed his instincts. He closed his eyes, flaring an Eagle Pulse, sensing the huge, misshapen blob of Dark energy careering towards him at high speeds, and pulled the shimmering dark black string of Trinity, 3 bolts of dust automatically materialized, a bolt of freezing ice, a flaming bolt of fire and a huge crackling bolt of explosive lightning appeared on the string.

Jaune released the breath from his lungs and fired the weapon. 3 bolts of fire, Ice and Lightning spat from Trinity and arced towards the Grimm, The Ice dust freezing the monsters feet solid to the ground, halting its charge and causing it to topple over, losing its balance, the Fire Dust Searing off its armor and burning its putrid flesh before the massive, explosive lighting bolt slammed into the burnt, frozen Grimm and a shattering explosion ignited right at the point of impact. A shockwave of energy and sound exploded outwards, the shockwave blowing Jaune's hood back and would have catapulted him off his perch too, had he not dug in and prepared for the explosion. Jaune slowly reopened his eyes and took in the sight. The Grimm was vaporized and obliterated, every trace of its unholy existence wiped off from the face of Remnant, and in its place stood a huge 15 meter deep crater, blackened and smoking from the devastating explosion caused by the three bolts of Dust.

Jaune sighed in relief, his legs collapsing from the strain of an almost empty Aura. The Light of his Soul was dangerously low and he sunk to his knees in exhaustion, both his physical strength and Aura almost completely exhausted. The Grimm Abomination was finally obliterated, and Jaune's mission was complete. He had acquired possession of an extremely powerful weapon at the cost of an almost total depletion of his energy and Aura, he had very nearly perished in his objective. It was his wits, training and his skills that allowed him to overcome the overwhelming odds and succeed. Jaune smiled tiredly as he slung Trinity over his shoulder and wearily leaned against the pedestal and prepared to take a nap to replenish his Aura by resting up for the journey home, but not after retrieving his Ancestral blade which had miraculously survived the cataclysmic implosion and lay at the bottom of the resulting crater.

He would then make it safely back out of the Grimm-infested forest and reach safety back at his training camp to report his mission's success to his Mentor and resume training until he was deemed ready for Assassination missions and the next stage of his combat training, Beacon Academy, his Mentor's combat school...

**Back to Jaune's current time after Headmaster Ozpin's speech to the new students...**

Headmaster Ozpin cleared his throat and began his speech to the new students at Beacon. His brown eyes swept through the new students like lasers, scanning over everyone in the crowd, briefly making eye contact with Jaune who nodded in respect at his Mentor as he listened intently to his Mentor's speech.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Concluding his speech, the Headmaster took a sip of his coffee and walked calmly off the stage, leaving the students to chatter amongst themselves as a blonde haired, green eyed woman stepped up to address the students. Professor Glynda Goodwitch adjusted her glasses as she spoke.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed"

Jaune smiled as he relished the fond memories of his adventures and training under his Mentor as he began to follow the crowd of chattering students to the sleeping hall to rest up for Initiation the next morning, following Yang and Ruby as they all excitedly traipsed out of the hall, excitedly talking.

"Is it just me, or did our new Headmaster seem kind of... off?"

Yang asked as Ruby and Jaune trailed behind her as they strode towards the dormitories, "It's almost like he wasn't even there."

Jaune grinned as he said,"Nahh, He just likes to create an impression of being offhand and neutral. He's quite friendly once you get to know him..."

"And how would you know that?" Ruby asked as she skipped happily ahead, spinning around to ask the cerulean-eyed Assassin behind. Jaune smiled as he pulled his hood down, "Why? He's my mentor, the man who taught me all my skills and trained me, my father figure and the man i respect the most."

"Really? That means you are the Apprentice of one of the most powerful Huntsman in Remnant!"

Yang exclaimed in shock as she continued with an appraising once-over at Jaune followed by a wink,"Well, Lady-Killer, Look like you're gonna be a nice strong friend to have!" As her predatory grin widened, Jaune knew dread.

"Crap."

He was rescued by the fifteen-year old sister of the blonde, _extremely well-endowed_ girl currently leering at him as Ruby dragged her persistent sister off to the Sleeping Hall to rest. "C'mon, Yang, don't scare off one of my only friends here at Beacon here with your flirting... C'mon!"

Ruby yelled as she activated her semblance, dragging her reluctant sister behind her and disappearing in a flash of rose petals. "BYeeeeeee, Jaune, Seeya later!" Ruby yelled her goodbyes as she raced off round the corner.

Jaune heaved a sigh of relief as he turned round to look for his Mentor. He headed back to the Entrance Hall of Beacon and headed for his Mentor's office with the aid of several signs and teachers. Finally reaching his destination after attracting far too much attention with his many weapons and his toned, lithe physique he was forced to resort to pulling his hood up and scaling the side of a nearby wall before running on rooftops to his Mentor's office, Jaune made his entrance by leaping through his Mentor's office window, landing in a barrel roll before straightening up to greet his Mentor.

"Mentor Ozpin, Sir!" Jaune greeted his Mentor who smirked before ribbing his Apprentice," Sigh, Jaune, do you always have to make an overtly dramatic entrance?"

Jaune smirked at the good-natured jibe before retaliating, "Well, I was taught by the best of Drama Queens."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow," Drama Queens... Really?"

Jaune smiled before softening his rigid stance and saying," Good to see you again, Sir."

Ozpin smiled indulgently before becoming serious." Now that you are in Beacon, you must learn to fight as a team, and for your team. You cannot remain as a lone wolf anymore. You must adapt to functioning well with your fellow teammates and foster bonds of trust and friendship. You must trust your teammates to guard your back, as they trust you to guard theirs."

"B..Bu...t" Jaune began to protest at the blatant disruption of his fighting style and methods as he had always embarked on missions and training alone, and was rarely allowed the luxury of companionship and a partner in combat. " Won't that become more of a liability than an aid, Si.."

Ozpin interrupted his protests with a word." Trust. Trust your teammates to do their jobs and cover you as you do the same for them."

Jaune nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Alright, I'll do my best. But I need to release some stress now, I'll take my leave now." With a nod of his Mentor's head to signify approval, Jaune ran towards the still open window, and leapt out, plunging downwards, his cloak flapping behind him as he executed a Leap of Faith, landing without a scratch of damage from the plunge down the tower.

Jaune pulled his Assassin hood down and sped off towards the Training and Sparring Arena. As he rounded a corner he spotted a white-haired girl with plenty of crates of what looked like Schnee Company Dust briskly walking down towards him. Suddenly, he heard an angry yell followed by a bout of mischievous-sounding laughter approaching them.

"Give me my damn Banana back, you filthy monkey!"

"If you want it, come and get it, ya overgrown ape!"

Jaune snickered as he watched a blonde, monkey Faunus rush past, happily munching on a banana, followed by none other than Cardin Winchester and his gang of thugs. The monkey Faunus, who was still looking back at Cardin and his gang desperately chasing after him as he easily outran them, but didn't see his impending collision with one of the crates of Schnee Dust belonging to that wide-eyed girl Jaune saw earlier.

Jaune's eyes widened at the impending collision and stepped forward to try to stop it but failed as the mischievous Faunus ran straight into the pile of Dust crates, knocking them over and sprawling over in a heap with dust crates scattered everywhere. The white-haired girl spun around in shock at the chaos of her precious Dust before her face adopted a rage-filled expression at the poor monkey Faunus sitting dazed, in the middle of the chaos.

"What are you doing?!" The girl shrieked in anger and shock at the sight.

The monkey Faunus stumbled onto his feet, still unbalanced and dazed, stammered, "Uh, sorry!" The white-haired girl continued her rant at an even higher pitched voice, the Faunus' attempt to placate her clearly failing, "Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" The Faunus picked up a case and mumbled, "Uuhhh..."

The girl, having evidently lost the last shreds of her patience, snatched the case from the Faunus who had been scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Give me that! This is _Dust_ - mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

"Uuuhhhh..." came the awkward reply,"Uh huh, So?"

Jaune smacked his palm into his face, the seemingly awkward Faunus had just utterly failed to resolve the situation and had just fanned the flames and worsened the situation.

The girl yelled in exasperation in an increasingly annoying tone,"What are you, brain-dead?" She removed a vial of red, shimmering Dust and yelled,"This is **Dust**! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

"I... I know... So what?" The monkey Faunus began to display signs of irritation as his sensitive nose began to twitch from the dust particles beginning to escape from the vial currently being waved about in front of his face.

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What have you got to say for yourself?!"

Jaune began to feel an increasing sense of foreboding and was about to intervene when **disaster** struck._  
><em>

The monkey Faunus, clearly having suffered enough, finally gave out a titanic sneeze, and a huge explosion of flame, snowflakes and electricity erupted in the middle of the arguing pair, enveloping them completely. Jaune's jaw drops in shock before striding forward to help, not noticing the Dust bottle previously being shaken rolling over to stop at the feet of another girl dressed in a black and white outfit with a black bow and amber, curious eyes surveying the scene of chaos.

The white-haired girl, now almost completely covered in black soot, finally reaches the limits of her endurance and explodes, screaming and shrieking at an ear-piercing volume.

"_Unbelievable_! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

The Faunus, his face now appropriately embarrassed and apologetic, desperately tries to resolve the argument. "I'm really, _really_ sorry!"

The scathing reply annihilates any hope of peacefully resolving this conflict. "Ugh, you complete _dolt_! What are you even _doing_ here? How could the likes of you enter this school? This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight _monsters_, so... watch where you're going! Y..You idiotic, clumsy, Faunus fool!?"

The Faunus has also reached the limits of his patience and yells back, "Hey, It was an accident! I said I was sorry, princess!"

The amber-eyed girl from before enters the argument, saying, "It's heiress, actually." Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The now identified heiress smiles smugly, looking down on the mortified and red-faced monkey Faunus.

"Finally! Some recognition!"

The black-clad girl then smirks before continuing, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The Faunus sniggers and Jaune cracks a smile at the Heiress' rapidly reddening face as she comprehends the back-handed insult. She is about to launch into another tirade when Jaune steps in, "OK, that's enough. Miss Schnee, this was obviously an unfortunate accident, and please don't escalate this argument anymore."

The indignant girl interjects,"WHAT? It was obviously the fault of that filthy Fau..."

Jaune scowls along with the amber-eyed girl next to him, and interrupts," Hey! Don't insult the Faunus. It doesn't matter if they are any different from us, OK? They deserve no bad treatment and should be treated equally! Anyway, it was not totally his fault. You're Weiss Schnee, for Dust's sake, your family has been producing Dust for ages! Having been around Dust since you were born, haven't you learnt that storing and transporting Dust using vials and corks is extremely dangerous?"

The white-haired girl stammers and desperately tries to retaliate and refute Jaune's argument but finally blushes and huffs before leaving the trio, stalking off.

Jaune, being the ever-oblivious boy, fails to notice the blush and turns round to help the monkey Faunus off the ground.

"Hey, I'm Jaune Arc. You okay?"

"Thanks, my name's Sun Wu Kong. Thanks for supporting me back there. Most people wouldn't have cared or supported me."

"What, because you're a Faunus? Who cares, Faunus are cool! You guys have a cool load of abilities like Night Vision and can even use your characteristics to fight! Like your tail!" Jaune points to Sun's swishing tail.

Sun grins and shakes Jaune's hand in thanks before bidding him goodbye and leaving,"See ya soon, Jaune!"

As Sun leaves, Jaune turns around to talk to the black-clad girl."Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna. Thanks for helping me out back there. You got Miss Schnee speechless, Quite impressive!"

Jaune, who had been staring a little too long, admiring Blake's beautiful amber eyes, shakes himself out of his reverie, and sheepishly mumbles," It was nothing. Ah well, gotta go..."Jaune quickly runs off after seeing Blake's raised eyebrows, she had obviously caught him staring at her.

Jaune curses at his shamelessness, " Dammit, now I look like some kind of pervert staring at pretty girls. Dammit..." Jaune scolds himself as he continues to run off, completely failing to notice Blake's pale face adopting a red hue at the handsome, lithe boy taking off in embarrassment after admiring her features.

BLake though to herself, While most guys stared at certain, um, _female __assets,_ Jaune was innocent and was staring intensely into her amber eyes with those intense, emotional, sky-blue ey...

"OK, THAT'S IT. NO MORE ADMIRING CUTE GU..." " What is wrong with me today?" BLake shakes her head and heads off after Jaune, walking at a sedate pace.

Jaune thought to himself as he raced towards the Sleeping Hall,"What's wrong with me today? I dont usually stare at cute girls... Never mind. Tomorrow's Initiation, I need my rest to prepare for tomorrow. Looks like I've already made quite a few friends at my first day here. Perhaps changing my ways as a lone wolf would be easier than i thought!"

**Ann****nnnd CUT!**

**I'll end off here today. I'm updating very quickly now, but this wouldn't hold long as I get a second wind at writing. I'm still improving my writing style and trying to increase depth and length of each chapter**

**(P.S. this chapter is a whopping _4683_ words, the longest I, a first time writer have written!) **

**So if you guys have any tips on how I did and how i can improve, do tell me in a review. Anyways, I got bored of normal Initiation and first meetings of characters in FFC and I've decided to deviate and introduce Sun early, that mischievous monkey is one of my favourite male characters in RWBY and so here you guys go! I bet no one saw that coming lol! **

**Anyways, since I'm more or less undecided on pairing, I'm inclined to depict Jaune having multiple pairing options, but so far, I'm leaning towards a JaunexBlake Pairing, It'll be interesting to flesh out as their personalities in this AU and Fighting styles and character seem the most compatible according to a few reviewers and my personal opinion, but nothing is confirmed yet. **

**Anyways, do tell me what you thought about the combat and interaction of the characters any tips or suggestions in a review please... Pretty Please? Just take a minute to review instead of just simple fav/following and leaving. We writers love reading reviews and they motivate us to grind out more chapters so PLease review!**

**Seeya. :):):):)**


	8. Chapter 9

** I'm back. Initiation will be in the next chapter, this chapter is too long to stuff in Initiation. I want to have quality chapters with depth and characterisation instead of rushing and doing a botched job, so here. Have this first. This chapter explains Jaune's past and emotional trauma, leading to the present time. Also, this chapter introduces Pyrrha and shows how she plays an integral role in this story. Also, it opens a path for Arkos, leaving pairings still undecided between JxB, and JxP. This chapter still contains combat though. I'm still polishing my writing style for combat scenes so I needed the practice. Besides, I hate filler chapters with no action. Anyways, nuff' said. Let's go. **

As Jaune reached the sleeping Hall after ditching his weapons and armor in his rocket locker, 636, only keeping his Hidden Blade and his Hook Blade with a few smoke bombs. One could never be too careful. It always paid off to be careful, the blonde thought to himself as he shrugged on a black muscle shirt and loose pants for bed, threw a jacket with a hood and a few hidden weapons in its inner folds, over his shoulder as he headed over to his sleeping corner. He had chosen a spot away from the windows and door, conveniently placed next to Ruby and Yang's sleeping bags. The occupants of the 2 Red and Yellow bags were currently making an awkward attempt to talk with Blake, who sported a Yukata and a slightly irritated frown as she was interrupted from her intent perusing of her book.

At the sight, Jaune flushed as Blake made eye contact with him across the hallway and the corners of her lips quirked up in a slight smile. Jaune pulled the hood over his head to hide his reddening complexion as he turned round to present his back to Blake's amused expression. Jaune cursed his carelessness as he mentally smacked himself at being caught staring at her angular yet rounded face and her devastatingly deep, amber eyes where her emotions could be seen bottled up and swirling around.

Jaune thought to himself, it honestly wasn't totally his fault for noticing pretty girls in this school, he was at an age where hormones were raging and he had functioned so long as a lone wolf with little female companionship, it was obvious he had years worth of contained emotions to sort through. And it wasn't his damned fault that her demeanor and attitude was so mysterious and attractive, and her physical attributes were nothing to scoff at too... Jaune shook off his treacherous thoughts and closed his eyes, entering the realm of dreams.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

_Darkness._

_Flames._

_Screams._

_Pain._

_Sorrow._

_Loss._

A pair of cerulean blue eyes with the exact same shade as Jaune stared into his own, radiating comfort, warmth and a hint of deep, boundless sorrow and regret as he heard the very words he both dreaded and loved, in the exact timbre and tone he used to love to hear when he got home.

_"Remember Jaune, your mother and I are proud of you, no matter what you do, We'll always be there for you. We love you, son. We love you. " The voice of his father, saying his last farewell to his beloved son as both pairs of blue eyes, misted over with unshed tears looked deep into the other, one pair desperately panicking, the other radiating comfort and warmth for the last time. _

_Goodbye. _

Jaune's heart shattered.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Jaune was suffering, in smothering _darkness_, _flames_ flickering, _screams_ of _pain_ echoing around him, a pair of cerulean blue eyes so similar to his radiated _sorrow_ and he heard the voice he now dreaded yet yearned for. The voice now echoing with loss and sorrow, the voice of his father, the one who would never hold him in his large, warm, well-built arms, the man who would never be there to help him up when he fell, the last part of the family he so briefly enjoyed being a part of, the Father he would never see or feel his comforting warmth ever again. Because he was dead. Forever lost. Jaune was drowning in a sea of turmoil, sadness, loss, he was trapped in the black abyss in his heart where his family's love once occupied. He was drowning in the roiling sea of sadness, loss and pain. He was lost in the abyss of the devastating pain he kept masked behind the persona of the emotionless, cold Assassin.

He had never recovered from the loss of the anchors to his life, the unconditional love of his family. With the death of his loving parents, the once carefree, happy boy's soul shattered, and from it's remains, rose the spectre of the joyful boy he once was The boy enveloped and drowning in waves of constant pain. He never did crawl out of the abyss which he had fallen into, the young boy, broken and damaged emotionally, was thrust into the harsh cruel world of the life of the adults. The war of his parents had fallen solidly into his shoulders, and he tried to fill the abyss in his broken heart and numb the pain by dealing out pain and death to the forces of evil.

The Templars. The group's leaders were madmen, power-hungry, cruel and ruthless. The members comprising the highest council of the Templars were the worst of the organisation, the vilest, most evil of them all, some members wanted to seize all of civilisation and take control of it, molding it to fit their own twisted visions of their world, and some of them just wanted to destroy all of Humanity's achievements and progress. Some people just wanted to watch the world burn.

The Templars had been defeated before in the shadowy, hidden war with the Assassins during the Grimm Wars. This particular conflict was fought in the shadowy, dark background of the Grimm Wars. When humanity had first barely staved off the endless waves of Grimm attackers and had found some breathing room, the humans had then built civilisation and cities, safe from the endless assaults of Grimm. That fateful day, humanity had emerged as the victors and most thought that they had reached a golden age of peace and prosperity. But most never knew the truth. The truth about how humanity came so close to total destruction and the razing of all they had built and fought so hard for.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The Templars had acquired an ancient, immensely powerful Artifact, a mysterious weapon that few people had heard of, let alone knew about or understood. The Artifact was mentioned in a few ancient Forbidden scrolls, which spoke of a devastating weapon of unimaginable power hidden within the depths of an island deep within lands infested by the deadliest of all Grimm. The Templars had planned to activate the Legendary weapon just after the Grimm had been barely repelled and where Humanity was exhausted from the long, drawn out war. If the Templars had successfully accomplished their mission, all of Humanity's hard-fought achievements would be annihilated.

However, the top team of Assassins were sent by the Creed to stop the Templars. The 4 Master Assassins, the legendary Wizard, Witch, Knight and Princess, had tracked down the Templar High Council and had fought them off, retrieving the Artifact while the main force of the Assassins clashed with the Templars' army in the background of the mass carnage during the Grimm Wars. With most of the High Council eliminated except the Grandmaster and the High Priestess who had escaped, the Assassins triumphed over the Templars and had retreated into obscurity to recover. The Assassins had suffered tremendous losses in the war against the Templars and had barely averted Armageddon, also sustaining losses so huge, the organisation had to retreat into the shadows of the aftermath to recover and regroup. The Artifact was split into 13 Shards of Eden, each piece carefully hidden away by the Assassins.

Humanity had enjoyed an era of peace since then, but not for long. Trouble was once again brewing, with suspicions that the Templars were responsible for eroding the peace. Threats emerging out of nowhere, like the White Fang unrest and criminal activity on the rise. The Assassins who had barely recovered and replenished it's forces enough, surmised that the Templars, now also recovered were on the rise and behind the brewing trouble. One of the few Master Assassins remaining, Wizard had taken on an Apprentice to counter this threat, and the Apprentice was none other than Jaune Arc.

Jaune Arc. The lonely, broken boy who had suffered through too much at a young and tender age, now had to shoulder the burden of his parents war. The boy had to endure the pain and sorrow, shrugging off the pangs of loss to step up to the mantle and legacy left behind by his parents. He had the strength and power to do so, due to the blood of 2 Legendary Master Assassins in his veins. His parents were part of the team of Master Assassins who had defeated the Templars High council, his father was Knight and his mother was Princess. Now under the tutelage of Mentor Ozpin, Master Assassin Wizard, he was preparing to become one of the most powerful Assassins in the Creed. Unfortunately, the pain of his loss and trauma had not disappeared, the brutal training and his duty as an Assassin allowed him to distract himself, but the pain was never eased as he slept, nightmares of that fateful night plaguing his dreams as the cold, hard mask and persona of the ruthless Assassin faded away under the cover of night and he sunk into the boiling ocean of hurt, pain and loss. Like now.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

**Back to Beacon's Sleeping Hall**

Jaune writhed and thrashed on his bed, his hoodie and muscle shirt becoming soaked with sweat as he shivered and muttered feverishly, suffering under the effects of his nightmares which had always plagued him, despite all he did to suppress it.

_"Remember Jaune, your mother and I are proud of you, no matter what you do, We'll always be there for you. We love you, son. We love you. " The voice of his father, saying his last farewell to his beloved son as both pairs of blue eyes, misted over with unshed tears looked deep into the other, one pair desperately panicking, the other radiating comfort and warmth for the last time._

_" Goodbye." _

"Don't leave me! " Jaune screamed as his eyes flew open under his hood as he leapt to his feet, instinctively unsheathing his Hidden Blade and Hook Blade. Jaune's face was a splotchy red, his eyes bloodshot and tears still flowing down his face, the tears soaking his hood as he shook himself out of his post-nightmare fugue. He sobered up and realised that he had awoken screaming again from another nightmare and he was lucky his hood had stifled the loud sound from waking everyone in the hall. His eyes and nose were sore and his throat ached due to his stifled crying and screaming under his hood. Jaune, now sufficiently calmed, thanked his lucky stars that he had not alerted anyone to his state of weakness in the night. Sighing and resenting the thought of going back to sleep and be tortured by his nightmares, he assessed himself and concluded that he had acquired sufficient rest for his body and rolled out of bed, deciding to head down to the training arena. He cleaned himself up and stripped off his hoodie, slinging it over his shoulders as he grabbed his Glaives and Crocea Mors from his rocket locker and headed off to the arena.

Jaune never realised that his muffled mumbling and crying under his jacket's hood had actually woken someone. As he left the hall, the distinctive *clunk* of the door softly echoing through the hall of slumbering students, Pyrrha Nikos, who had awoken a while ago from Jaune's muffled crying and screaming, had been debating whether or not to go over to render comfort to the poor suffering boy she had seen on the Airship to Beacon.

She had hesitated initially, wondering if she would disturb his privacy or not, but the decision was made as she prepared to go over and help Jaune but at that exact moment, Jaune awoke. Pyrrha quickly lied back down, observing the boy as his hood fell off, stifling her gasp of shock at his bloodshot eyes, red, splotchy face and the pure sadness his expression radiated, with his hunched shoulders and lowered head, he looked depressed. She continued following the boy's movements with her eyelids almost fully closed as the boy retrieved his weapons and headed off. Pyrrha understood now, the boy had evidently decided to train to blow off steam after his nightmare and clear his head. She understood a that for she too, as a fellow Warrior had done this herself many times.

When she tried to turn over to resume her sleep, her verdant green eyes refused to close as the pain-filled expression on the otherwise handsome face plagued her thoughts, refusing to let go from where his sorrow had taken root in her mind. Standing up, Pyrrha straightened and stretched, brushing stray strands of her bright red hair aside, swiftly arranging her hair in a rough ponytail. She had realised how to help Jaune. Pyrrha changed into a clean shirt and her combat apparel, minus the armor and grabbed Akouo and Milo, her Spear and Shield combo, heading to the training arena, where she knew Jaune would be fighting bots.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

Jaune snarled in fury as he hurled his Glaive out with a powerful flick of his gauntleted arm. The Glaive zipped through a horde of AK-130 Droids assaulting the lone fighting figure. Jaune roared in rage and fury, channeling his pain and loss into strength, following his Mentor's teachings.

_"Emotions. Emotions are the main fuel and source of the Light of The Soul. Your Aura. The reason why your Aura is so powerful and abundant is only partly due to your Lineage. Your emotions, so vibrant and intense, fuel your Aura, and from your Aura, comes your strength. However, if you allow your emotions to control you, you will burn out. And then, you will die. Learn to channel your emotions to fuel your strength, and yet control your roiling emotions, not your emotions controlling you. The best of Assassins who achieve complete balance in controlling strength and emotions are the ones who have the perfect balance between the persona of the cold, emotionless, rock-steady killer and vanquisher of evil, while underneath that layer lies the boiling flow of emotions fueling strength. You, my Apprentice, have yet to do this. You have not reached your full potential yet, your Aura is already formidable as it is now, but it will be much more powerful if you balance out your emotional turmoil. The war between the pain-stricken, broken, sad boy and the your kind, caring nature you used to have before the ** Incident, **and your Assassin persona's cold, indomitable emotionless force of nature. When you finally heal the Rift within yourself, only then will you be worthy of exceeding your parent's legacy and mantle and only then will your full potential be unlocked. _

Jaune now followed his Mentor's teachings, funneling his roiling sea of emotions and letting loose. Jaune vented all his emotional pain and sorrow into his attacks, his slashes and stabs increasing in frequency, speed and power. Crocea Mors' deadly sharp blade biting through Droid armor and tearing apart electronics as his Glaives were sent out ripping through his targets before being snatched out of the air and flung out again. Jaune was the proverbial perfect storm of violence and strength, completely annihilating and destroying dozens of Droids as fast as they deployed.

The Training Arena's AI, sensing the lone participant's innate ability to annihilate all the bots it deployed, no matter the numbers, ramped up the difficulty. Laser and Dust weaponry were now wielded by the advancing Droids. Explosive blasts ricocheted all around the arena as Jaune, still in his pain and rage-induced emotional storm, continued venting, his combat instincts and his Assassin combat persona surfacing and taking over, his lithe, toned, unarmoured body arcing and leaping around, over and under the multiple energy blasts as he continued in a tornado of destruction weaving through the army of bots. Finally, the humongous stockpile of Droids in the Training Arena was exhausted, bots of all difficulties, abilities and weaponry lay shredded and ripped apart in a veritable mountain of scrap metal and shattered armor and electronics filling the Arena. Bots ranging from basic AK-130 Droids to heavily armored and equipped Spider Droids lay torn apart and demolished in the Arena as the cleaner drones set to work cleaning up the humongous pile of spare parts, formerly a veritable army of combat Droids, and recycling them.

Jaune paused, surveying the scene of carnage, his emotions under control again. He had expended most of his negative, bottled up energy and emotions. The massacre of the Droids, however could not really be called training. His skills did not benefit or improve in technique. Normal Droids simply did not possess the power, speed or skill to give him a challenge, as Jaune spun around to exit the Arena as the cleaner bots cleared the debris, he heard a faint clapping. Jaune immediately reacted, instinctively sinking into a defensive stance, drawing Crocea Mors and activating his shield. Flaring an Eagle Pulse, he detected someone in the Arena with him who had been watching him rampage for a long time. He had been too engrossed in destroying bots and venting his emotions to clear his mind, and did not notice someone watching him.

"Hey, no need to get defensive. I was just watching your impressive display, " A crimson-haired girl stepped out from the stands and strolled down to the now clean Arena." I saw how you massacred those bots. I know you were clearing your mind and venting. I wouldn't ask why but I know something was troubling you... Are you okay now? " Verdant green eyes sparkled with warmth and care as Pyrrha Nikos carefully observed the blonde boy who had deep, emotional cerulean eyes.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Jaune looked surprised as this beautiful, green eyed girl with hair like a river of crimson fire understood his need to vent his stress and also care enough to ask him if he was okay. The girl radiated a warm aura of kindness and care as her bright green eyes sparkled... Jaune shook himself out of his reverie as he stuttered, " Huh, what? I kinda got distracted..." Pyrrha nearly giggled at his dumbfounded expression, Aw, he was so _cuteeee! _To think that such a ruthless, powerful boy who had just looked like all the burdens of the world were piled on his shoulders and who had been crying and screaming from nightmares was now just a cute, oblivious boy underneath that formidable fighter persona!

Jaune then realised how that sounded like and immediately blushed, "Um, n.. No.. Not like that! Um I had nightmares and I decided to vent by fighting some bots to train!" His stammering only served to deepen his blush, causing tinges of red to appear on Pyrrha's cheeks too.

"My name is Pyrrha Nikos, I'm from Mistral. Nice to meet you." The crimson-haired girl stated in a light tone, saving Jaune from further embarrassment.

Jaune immediately latched onto the change of subject like a lifeline and managed to get out, " Um, I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc. I'm new here too! Pyrrha Nikos, that's a nice name..."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow and cheered inside as this boy she just met seemed to treat her normally and not elevate her on a pedestal immediately. She might be able to establish a good, honest bond of friendship with this handsome yet socially awkward boy, if she played her cards right...

"So, " Pyrrha continued," It looks like smashing bots succeeded in allowing you to vent, but it looks like you didn't get in much decent training in, feeling up for a spar? " Jaune wholeheartedly agreed, fighting programmed bots was no challenge, and as he appraised the sight of her Spear and Shield, and the ease and confidence of her stance, relaxed yet ready for combat, he immediately seized the opportunity. " Thanks for agreeing to help. Let's spar!"

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Pyrrha smiled gently, displaying her pearly-whites as she unsheathes Milo and Akouo and settled into a combat stance. Jaune noted the hardening of her facial expression and the cold mask that covered her warm, caring eyes, the mask of a warrior. Smirking, Jaune thought, "A well-trained and skilled Warrior, this should be challenging." In a blink of an eye, Pyrrha charged, slashing down with her Spear, Jaune dodged out of the way of the swift and deadly strike, spinning away to the left, only to meet with a shield bash from Akouo.

Jaune ducked under Akouo and rolled out of her strike range. Smiling at her prowess, Jaune counterattacked, Crocea Mors' deadly sharp blade whistling through the air, the light yet strong blade slashing and stabbing so fast Pyrrha could barely see the weapon, just flashed of light reflecting off the metal... However, Pyrrha was just as skilled, mecha-shifting Milo into its Xiphos sword mode she parried, dodged and blocked, only receiving a few slashes which diminished her Aura to 93%. Jaune, however, was still intact and leapt back in a ready stance, leaving some room for air between them.

"Ready for round 2, Pyrrha?", Jaune asked, twirling his sword, Crocea Mors shield will strapped to his back as he wriggled his eyebrows at Pyrrha cheekily. Pyrrha began to feel a few sparks of irritation but it was covered by the pure adrenaline and excitement in a challenging combat match. Pyrrha smiled and said softly, "Ready." Pyrrha leapt backwards to gain some breathing room, mecha-shifted Milo into a rifle and opened fire on Jaune, sending high-velocity rounds streaking towards the Assassin. Jaune activated an Eagle Pulse, sending a burst of Aura out, and rushed forward with inhuman speed, his body enveloped in a white glow as he blurred forward. Having gauged the bullets' path with the Eagle Pulse, Jaune blurred forward at an insane speed, slashing and deflecting the bullets away with Crocea Mors' blade, he deflected most of the bullets streaking towards him and dodged the rest as he blurred forward. Pyrrha barely had time to gasp as his blade arced towards her neck, but she reacted with the finely-honed instincts of a well-trained Warrior, activating her semblance, Polarity. Jaune, who had been aiming for her neck, noticed that his blade was covered in a blackish Aura and suddenly veered off course. Jaune immediately reacted, bringing forth his shield to knock away Pyrrha's stab with Milo in Spear form, rolling back in a backwards tumble, Jaune straightened up and inquired in a light tone, "What was _** that**? _"

Pyrrha smiled evenly and replied in the same cheeky tone Jaune had used on her earlier," Trade secret, Jaune. Ready for round 3?" Jaune grinned as he smiled, "Time to bring out the big guns, Let's end this! " Jaune smiled as he closed his eyes, face adopting the cold, empty, emotionless of the Assassin as he unleashed his Warrior persona. His Aura flared even brighter as he glowed with power, causing Pyrrha to step backwards and crouch low, adopting a defensive stance warily. Jaune opened his eyes, and they were a glowing a bright white, resembling beacons of bright light where there had previously only been cerulean blue eyes, and Jaune spoke in a much deeper tone with a dark undertone, "Now, let's end this."

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Jaune leapt forward, crossing the span of the Arena in a blink of an eye, dealing out a devastating uppercut with Crocea Mors. Pyrrha tried to deflect the blow currently soaring towards her like a meteor with her Semblance, but Jaune's blade was enveloped in a layer of firey white Aura and her Polarity dissipated upon contact with the burning white Aura. Pyrrha's shield which had been simultaneously thrust up to block the powerful blow with the aid of her Polarity, was slammed backwards, nearly breaking her full defensive stance as she was sent tumbling backwards. Skidding from the force of the massive blow, she looked up to see Jaune pointing the tip of his sword at her throat.

"Surrender. " The tip of the deadly weapon continued pointing at her neck, the white Aura fire dissipating as Jaune reined in his Warrior persona. Pyrrha lowered her head and looked like she was going to surrender, but she suddenly lashed out with her Polarity, channeling almost all her reserves of Aura into her Semblance. Her Polarity pushing Crocea Mors away, despite some of the black energy getting negated by the remains of the rapidly dissolving White Aura fire, Pyrrha lashed out with Milo in Xiphos mode, the bronze blade flashing in the weak rays of light emanating from the slowly rising sun...

And was disarmed within a blink of an eye. Jaune who had been prepared for exactly that kind of maneuver, had smoothly leaned back, Matrix-style and easily dodging the blow. Retaliating ruthlessly, he unsheathes his Hook-Blade and catches her Xiphos in his small hook and with a quick rotation and tug, Pyrrha was forced to relinquish her weapon to avoid dislocating her wrist. Pyrrha rolled out of the way of Jaune's strike with Crocea Mors as she stretched her hand out and used her Polarity to summon her weapon, but found her Polarity suppressed by the White Aura Flames all over Milo. Pyrrha now had to fight past Jaune and his sword to reach her weapon, and to make things worse, she only had Akouo, a shield!

Pyrrha growled and charged forward in a last stand, she had never been one to go down without a last attempt, she was not the 'Invincible Girl' for nothing. Jaune seemed surprised at the stubbornness of this girl who had refused to yield despite the loss of her main offensive weapon. She truly was a Warrior after his own heart. Deciding to end this match honorably, he rushed forward to meet her charge. With twin war cries, the Red Gladiator and the Assassin collided in a blast of Aura. When the dust in the Arena cleared, it revealed an awkward scene.

Pyrrha was straddling Jaune's hips and had knocked him backwards with a shield bash before leaping forward to attack again. However, the effects of the explosion of clashing Auras had knocked Jaune back and Pyrrha had miscalculated, landing on Jaune's hips. The crimson haired girl smirked, not noticing the awkward position, still caught in the heat and adrenaline of battle, "I win!" Pyrrha's verdant green eyes sparkled in glee and pride as she held her shield above Jaune's face threateningly, ready to deal out another bash with Akouo.

Jaune, also feeling the rush of an intense battle smugly replied, " No, I win. I can survive your shield bash, but can you survive this?" Jaune flicked his eyes to where his right hand wielded Crocea Mors, the sword pointed at Pyrrha's torso while his Hidden Blade was unsheathed, held at Pyrrha's neck. Pyrrha found herself unable to retaliate and simply said, " No, let's just call it a draw."

Jaune smirked, "Whatever let's you sleep at night Pyrrha." The blonde cheekily teased the crimson haired beauty currently residing on his hips. _  
><em>

_ Wait... What? _

Jaune's face exploded in a massive, bright red blush as he realised the awkward, intimate position they were in. "Um, d.. Do.. Do you mind getting off?" Jaune stammered. Judging from Pyrrha's bright red complexion from the blood rush to her face, Pyrrha too was extremely embarrassed. She leapt off Jaune immediately, using her Polarity to summon Milo and taking off back to the Hall as it was already morning and students were starting to awaken...

"If anyone had seen me straddling that handsome boy... Oh boy, that wouldn't have ended well..." Pyrrha thought to herself before her rebellious streak interjected, " _Not that you would actually mind being in such an intimate position with a hottie like him... Have you seen his abs?_" Pyrrha immediately exploded into an even brighter blush as she desperately suppressed her traitorous hormones as she fled from the scene... **  
><strong>

Jaune, meanwhile was still comprehending the consequences of being in such an intimate position with the beautiful, crimson-haired girl from before. Namely, the flow of blood diverted to _somewhere else_, other than his face. He was gonna have a hard time explaining away the bulge in his loose pants if someone saw him now. His traitorous hormones then interjected, "_Not that you would mind having an encore, have you seen those curves and dayum dem delicious female assets_?" Jaune desperately tried to rein in his blush but failed miserably. Sighing with exasperation, the blonde Assassin picked himself off the Arena floor and reholstered all his weapons, donning his jacket and hoodie before he setting off at a light jog back to the school grounds to wash up and prepare for Initiation. He would need his strength for later...

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

**1 Hour later... **

Jaune stepped out of the shower cubicle in the bathroom, steam funneling out from the open door. Hurriedly scrubbing his hair dry, Jaune pulled on an undershirt followed by his Blue jacket with a black hood, and restrapped his Hidden and Hook Blades on his forearms. Rushing out of the bathroom, he raced towards the lockers, he was pushing it close with the timing, he had spent far too long slowly walking to the Hall, still shell-shocked and blushing at this mornings intimate encounter with Pyrrha and now he had little time left before assembling for Initiation. Jaune rushed towards his locker, mumbling, "636, 636, where are ya..." Sighing in relief as he spotted the row of lockers, 630-640 around the next corner, he sprinted round the corner...

And careened straight into someone. Jaune got a faceful of somehow familiar, snow-white hair before he stumbled backwards rubbing a bruise on his forehead.. " Ow, Ow, dammit. What was that?" Jaune mumbled as he rubbed his forehead. Brushing his blonde hair out of his eyes, he realised he was face to face with a frowning Weiss Schnee.

"You again!", the heiress shouted as she accusing pointed a dainty finger at the scowling Assassin. "Yes, it's me alright. The resident Blonde, Blue-eyed hottie. " Wiggling his eyebrows in a bid to further piss off the fuming heiress, Jaune snickered as the heiress' pale skin turned a bright red, whether from embarrassment or pure rage, Jaune wasn' t sure, but it was the most amusing thing he'd seen since morning. Snickering at her incoherent blustering and shrieking, Jaune exploded into whole-hearted laughing as he saw steam practically issuing from her ears...

"Jaune, stop bullying Weiss here... " A warm voice with a hint of amusement sounded out from behind the row of lockers as Pyrrha stepped out round the corner, clad in her signature bronze armor and leather, figure-hugging vest. Jaune finally reined in his hysterical laughter as he soon around to greet Pyrrha before a tinge of red appeared as he took in Pyrrha's form-fitting armor which accentuated her figure and enhanced her natural beauty.

A small blush appearing on the Spartan's face as she saw Jaune's face tinge red as he took in her in her armor, Pyrrha was shaken out of her memory of this morning's, um, awkward _Encounter_ when Weiss interrupted, having sufficiently calmed down.

"Hold on a sec. You two have met?" The white-haired heiress scowled as she asked. How could she, the smart, beautiful heiress to the Schnee Dust Company fail to get a hold of Pyrrha Nikos, 4 time Mistral Tournament Champion?

"Yup. We sparred this morning." Jaune said proudly, grinning mischievously at Pyrrha as is to signify his knowledge of the _"draw" . _Pyrrha rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Jaune behind Weiss' back as she wiggled her hands' fingers on top of her nose in a teasing gesture. Jaune smirked and then loudly interjected, " If you don't believe me, turn around and ask her yourself now. As Weiss quickly spun around, Pyrrha was forced to pretend to scratch her nose awkwardly as Jaune snickered behind Weiss' back, scratching his own nose in the same awkward way as Pyrrha did and laughing.

Pyrrha nodded in agreement to Jaune's statement, " Jaune was training in the Arena this morning, and I offered to help him and train with him in a spar." Weiss' eyes widened with shock as she asked Jaune, " You trained with Pyrrha Nikos, who graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"

Jaune raised his eyebrows as he thought, " Impressive. I never knew that, but judging from her skill level, it's not surprising." Deciding to continue to play the role of the ignorant fool to continue pissing off the heiress, he arched an elegant eyebrow in the perfect picture of innocence and ignorance.

"Never heard of it."

Weiss scowled at the display of what she perceived to be stupidity and ignorance. "She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!" The heiress spat out hotly, becoming more irritated by the second.

"The what?" Jaune asked innocently, giving an underhanded wink to Pyrrha who had caught on by now and was rolling her eyes behind Weiss' back as she stifled a snicker at her new friend's plan to irritate and aggravate Weiss further.

Weiss lost all remaining shreds of her short temper and shrieked, waving her arms rapidly in anger, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

Jaune gasped in a manner so fake, it would have been easily seen through by any rational person at this point, unfortunately, Weiss had lost all control over her temper and her impending temper tantrum drowned out all rational thoughts.

Jaune, with a mask of fake surprise and shock, asked, "That's her?! But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Exactly, you dunce! " Weiss finally reined in her irritation and exasperation as she desperately tried to cool down the redness of her face from venting her frustration on the lunkhead currently leaning coolly on the side of the locker wall.

" Actually, " Jaune snickered as he began guffawing, " I already knew all that and I still treat her normally. No matter her abilities, she is still human like us and deserves honest friendship. I just wanted to see how far I could push you to get you pissed off. " Now subsiding into gales of laughter as he fled from the enraged heiress who had drawn Myrtenaster, her Dust Rapier and was currently on a personal mission to skewer the idiot who had baited and embarrassed her in front of Pyrrha Nikos, no less, Jaune laughed as he effortlessly outpaced the heiress who was charging like an enraged bull. Jaune blasted out the doors, still laughing hysterically as he raced past Ruby Rose and her sister Yang. Ruby and Yang stared in astonishment as they watched the hysterically laughing Jaune flee from the enraged, white-haired heiress who was swearing up and down to skewer him on her Rapier if it was the last thing she did.

*Awkward silence*

"Yang? " Came the 15-year old's question.

" Yes, Ruby? "

" Do we want to know what that's about? "

" Beware Ruby, that way lies Madness... "

" OK, we don't want to know... " Ruby stated as she marched off her sister following her as they headed towards the cliff for Initiation.

** Ok. I'll end this chapter here. This chapter has 6K+ words lol, slowly but surely my chapters become longer and have more depth, so please have patience. Also, I promise you guys the next chapter will definitely be out in a few days and will show Initiation, which is gonna be awesome. (Spoilers: Evolve.) If any of you get this clue, do include in in your reviews! Pls Read and Review, it motivates me to get updates out quickly. **


	9. Progress Report!

Progress report on next chapter. I'm deeply sorry for the two week gap, guys. I'm writing a whopping 10k+ chapter on Initiation Combat. And I haven't even gotten past the first stage of combat yet. There are 3 stages. Beginning, where there are normal Grimm up to B-Class Grimm. Canon stage, Nevermore and Death Stalker and FINALLY deviation! Third stage. Haha! Not telling. Only clue(Evolve)

Current wordcount 8k+ words out of at least 10k words. Have patience, my loyal readers. When I hit 10k plus words, I'll post it. But most likely, the third stage of combat Initiation will not be included. This chapter was a bitch to write. Almost there I don't want to botch this chapter by rushing it. Patience= good chapters with nice long length and good quality. Almost there guys!


	10. Initiation First Stage!

**Hey, I'm back! **

**First of all, I would like to apologize for my delay in updating as I was swamped in a flood of work, not counting my School's trip to Batam, Indonesia for the past few days for a Community Involvement project and a severe dose of Writer's Block. However, I forged through that thanks to my loyal readers and reviewers who motivated me to write up this whopping 10000+ word chapter for you guys. Thanks for all the reviews, and the pairing votes has been overwhelmingly decided to be a JxBxP pairing So YAY! Arkos and JxB!**

**Anyways, Initiation starts here. Andddd It's gonna be awesome. Further descriptions of Jaune's weaponry and armor incorporated into plenty of combat here. Also, thanks to a particular PM from _Operator Blake 'Roxasrock_, who suggested the awesome stealth assault team of Assassin Jaune and Blake, the stealth combat specialist of RWBY. They are one heck of an awesome fighting team!**** Anyways, this guy writes awesome JxB story called _Reclaimers. _Check it out if you like this! **

**Anyways, nuff' said. Let's go.**

_There will be some deviations and changes from Canon here, including teams. _

**At the Sleeping Hall(when Jaune/Pyrrha are sparring) **

Blake yawned and stretched as she sat up from her sleeping bag after a good night's sleep. Feeling the disks of her spine cracking back into position and sighing in pleasure, she stood up to prepare for her morning exercises. As she changed into a simple set of warm-up attire after a quick wash up, she began her routine of stretches and a quick jog around the grounds downstairs.

After a quick round of warm-ups and exercises, the amber-eyed girl changed into her combat apparel, putting on her stockings, boots and vest before strapping Gambol Shroud in its holster. As she was in the midst of tying a black ribbon into her precious bow to mask her Faunus heritage, the pair of black, silky cat ears, her more sensitive Faunus ears pricked up as she heard someone racing towards the Hall, laughing up a storm. Blake rapidly put on her freshly tied bow on her ears as she saw a blonde blur race into the hall, laughing hysterically. Raising an eyebrow regally, Blake watched in amusement as the now identifiable Jaune yelled out an apology before ducking as a flurry of icicles nearly gave him a haircut. Rushing into the Hall, Jaune slammed the thick wooden, antique doors shut with a loud _*thud*_ sound.

"Come out here, you coward! Open the damned doors! Y.. Yo... You'll pay for your cheekiness, you blonde, scraggly dunce! Come Out! Don't make me burn my way in there! "

Jaune, still wiping tears of mirth as he yelled back," Aw, C'mon, Weissy. Don't be so angry... Frowning constantly gives your pretty little face wrinkles! "

Hearing that little comment, Blake's bow twitched. Oh, no sir. She wasn't jealous or irritated by that "pretty" comment, nope. Not at all. No sir. Her Faunus ears itched. That's all.

Jaune paled as he heard the repercussions of that little jibe. The ominous clicking and metallic sound of Weiss' weapon, Myrtenaster, the Dust Rapier switching over to her Fire Dust cartridge, currently emanating through the wooden door.

"Um, Weiss? Please don't tell me you're gonna resort to..." Jaune nervously began, hiding behind the safety of a thick wooden door. Thankfully, Jaune was saved by the Bell, literally.

The voice of Professor Glynda Goodwitch emanated from the speakers on the wall outside in the corridor.

"Miss Schnee, please refrain from torching school property with Fire Dust just to exact your vengeance upon a fellow student. Initiation is about to begin. Please report to the cliff immediately if you wish to continue your education at Beacon..."

Jaune sighed in relief as he heard Weiss' distinctive heels click-clack away from outside the door, the imminent roasting of the door with Myrtenaster's Fire Dust cartridge was avoided. As he stuck his head out into the corridor to check if the coast was clear, thinking to himself that, maybe, just maybe, this whole fiasco would simply blow over and be forgotten...

Aaaannd, he was disappointed. Another flurry of ice spikes zoomed past his face, nearly awarding him a third nostril as he jerked his head back to safety.

"Don't even think that this will somehow blow over, I'll remember this, Arc! Just you wait... When I'm done with you... "

As Weiss' threat faded away into the distance, Jaune sighed. Well that reply certainly answered _ that _question. Blake cleared her throat subtly. Jaune jumped as he spun around, before finally noticing Blake leaning coolly against a nearby wall.

" Hi, Blake." Jaune cheerfully greeted.

"What was that about? Why was Miss Schnee so mad at you? What did you do? " Blake inquired curiously.

Judging from Jaune's smug grin and his nonchalant reply, " Oh, nothing much. Just a little social experiment on how far I could annoy Weiss before she explodes.", Blake sighed in exasperation, acknowledging her friend's mischievous nature. " Forget I even asked that question. Anyway, Initiation is staring in approximately 4 minutes. Are you ready?"

_Shit. Jaune thought._

**30 seconds later...**

The twin oak Doors of the Hall slammed open as a black-clad blur and a white-clad one zoomed out of the now empty sleeping Hall.

**" **Why didn't you tell me earlier? " Jaune asked as he poured on the speed, racing towards the locker room to get to his armor and other weapons.

"If you didn't waste time pissing the Heiress off, we wouldn't be here now." Blake rolled her eyes as the boy reached his locker and unlocked it at top speeds, as he hurriedly brushed a hand through his windswept hair.

Jaune snapped on his armor, which resembled a combat harness made of a faintly glowing white, extremely durable and light metal. The armor consisted of Aura-fuelled, Dust-laced nano-tubing, with supports and braces all over Jaune's torso, shoulders and waist but without any heavy metal plating, just lightweight metal tubes covering and supporting Jaune's core muscles, with a thin, metallic weave of shock absorbers filling the spaces between the armored tube supports. Strapping on a set of armored Gauntlets, Jaune holstered his Glaives and slung Trinity over his back before slamming his locker shut.

"Come on, we have less than two minutes left to Initiation!" Blake shouted as the ebony-haired girl checked the clock mounted on the opposite wall. Jaune swore. "Dammit, we need a shortcut." Jaune looked out of a large window pane mounted into the stone walls of Beacon's hallway. The window looked down upon the cliff where Initiation was due to start and where the new students were preparing and lining up.

Jaune smiled ominously while Blake shivered as she saw that evil smirk again. she dared not try to guess what crazy idea he had thought of now...

Jaune interrupted "Hop on. We'll never make it down the stairs in time. I'm taking a shortcut." Crouching down slightly , Jaune gestured at Blake to climb onto his back. Blake immediately blushed, a red tinge coloring her pale cheeks. "WHAT?"

"C'mon. We don't have much time left." Jaune reassured the amber-eyed girl as she stammered. "W..Wa..Wait. What are you gonna do?"

The blonde Assassin smirked, "Okay. Have it your way. Don't say I didn't warn you." Pulling down his hood, he flared his Aura and threw open the window. Blake's eyes widened in shock. Seizing the opportunity, Jaune gently but quickly bundled the black-clad girl over his shoulders, before leaping out of the window, straight down, plunging towards the rapidly approaching ground.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

"AHHHHHHH!" Blake screamed hysterically," Are you CRAZY?"

Jaune laughed in a carefree manner as the pair plunged down the side of the wall.

"Relax.", the blonde smirked," I've got this."

Jaune flexed his left Gauntlet as a Hook-Blade extended from its sheathe under his left armored gauntlet. Swinging Blake from her position over his shoulders to his back where she instinctively wrapped her legs around the blonde's armored torso, Jaune spun around in mid-air. His armored boots connected with the stone walls of Beacon as he thrust his Hook-Blade into the small cracks and crevices in the stone wall to slow his descent as he sprinted forward, nearly vertically, down the wall.

Blake swore up and down to personally murder Jaune for even daring to drag her into this madness if they ever made it out alive as she clutched at Jaune's muscular back in a death-grip, his shoulder supports digging into her chest. Jaune was about to reach the ground when he funneled Aura into his armored legs, the Aura-powered armor enhancing Jaune's reflexes and power as he leapt off the wall, his body soaring towards the cliffside as Blake clutched to him desperately.

The pair finally landed a small distance behind the cliff and the assembled students, the shock-absorbers in Jaune's boots silencing the sound of the pair's impact. Blake fell off Jaune's back, her lungs desperately working to funnel oxygen into her body to calm her racing heart and try to slow her pulse rate into something resembling normal speeds. Jaune calmly stood up from his crouch where he had landed in a perfectly executed Leap of Faith, rolling his eyes at the sight of Blake desperately gasping and panting on the ground.

The cheeky Assassin pulled his hood back over his head from where it had blown back down in the plunge down the walls of Beacon and snickered. " What are you breathing so hard for? I did all the work, you just had fun screaming in my ears the whole time... I think you should take another day job as a singer, I never knew it physically capable for someone to scream at such high pitches."

Blake, now sufficiently calmed down, was about to tell the cheeky blonde grinning smugly at her where exactly he could shove his cheeky comments when Jaune, finally comprehending his inevitable doom, turned tail and fled from the impending storm of Blake's righteous anger.

"Come back here!" The ebony-haired girl roared as she chased her prey who was exploding in laughter as he fled. Brandishing Gambol Shroud as she chased down her doomed quarry, the amber-eyed, stealth combat specialist failed to notice the bright smile and deep blush on her face as she chased after Jaune who had just turned around to flash another cheeky grin at her.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

"Just in time." Jaune stifled his snickers at Blake's red face as she took up her position on the launch pads next to him, as _Headmaster_ Ozpin calmly stated, glancing at his Scroll's timer. Now that all the initiates were here, the Headmaster began his briefing.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Jaune and many others nodded in agreement and curiosity as Professor Goodwitch continued,

" Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams". Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

As the silver-haired Headmaster finished his sentence, there was an absolute, shocked silence before an explosion of worried conversation interrupted his briefing.

Ruby gasped in shock and wailed in horror,"Whaaaat?!"

"See? I told you-!"

The Headmaster cleared his throat, silencing the chatter before he continued, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

_Silence._

"Good!" The cane-wielding man exclaimed as he sipped from his cup, "Now, take your positions."

Down the row of students, the silver platforms under each student activates and launches off into the forest, catapulting students in all directions into the Emerald forest. As the blonde Assassin watched, more and more students were sent soaring into the forest, before finally Blake was sent flying off and it was his turn. Jaune sent a small smile towards his Mentor which elicited a small twitch at the corner of his Mentor's lips before the Assassin was sent flying off.

Jaune calmly closed his eyes as the wind blasted past his armored body and black Assassin cloak. His body angling into a descending fall, he activated his Aura and his eyes glowed a bright white. Ethereal, white Aura fire enveloped the armored Assassin, as the blonde plunged into the forest canopy. When Jaune impacted into the treetops, he unstrapped Crocea Mors , stabbing it into the trunk of a sturdy tree and swung around it, his momentum expiring as he crouched on a branch, the White Aura Fire dissipating. As the ethereal flames faded away, it revealed Jaune's activated armor. **Candidus Defensor**-The White Defender.

_**A/N Please excuse the excess science in the next paragraph. I got too excited writing about the new armor I imagined up. It was inspired by Man Of Steel 2013, General Zod's armor at the end of the movie. Just remove all excess armor plating and leave the basic supports and braces across the torso, shoulders and waist. Then imagine Aura coalesced into a physical armor plate made of light and with practically no weight replacing all that heavy metal plating. These armor is practically made out of physical light and fuelled by Aura. Viola! Great looking, extremely lightweight, sleeker version of General Zod's armor, with less fancy stuff, of course. But please spend some time reading it if you like such stuff in details.**_

Forged by Jaune's ancestors during the Grimm Wars, the armor was basically a combat harness-type armor, with braces and supports protecting the user's core muscles and supporting the body with several braces and tubes made from strong, lightweight metal. In terms of coverage and protection, it offered little compared to other full-bodied metal armor sets, with its lack of significant metal plates or armor.

However, Candidus Defensor's offered protection came from the projection of Aura into the armor's enhancers in the nano-tubing coiled around the user. Jaune's white Aura had condensed into the physical plane and formed armor plates made of coalesced Hard Light, providing complete protection from all assaults until the Aura of the Arc wearing it expired. With Jaune's formidable Aura, and upgrades like Dust-laced force enhancers and shock absorbers, the Aura-fuelled armor provided complete protection with armor plates made out of condensed Aura, the condensed Light of Jaune's Soul. Which were nearly impossible to penetrate without severe Aura exhaustion.

With the Hard Light armored plating successfully formed, Jaune activated another of his upgrades to his ancestral armor, Stealth mode. The coalesced Light of his Soul flickered into a midnight black color, before blending into the shadows of which the forest canopy created. As The white metal of the nano-tubing of Candidus Defensor tinted black, Jaune pulled his hood down, fading into the forest.

Grinning under his hood, Jaune landed softly on the forest floor with barely an audible sound. Activating his Ancestral Armor's main ability never ceased to fill him with an excited buzz, and despite the slight toll on his Aura, the armor's consumption of the Light of his Soul was too slight to offset his Aura's regeneration. Also, with the technology appropriated from the Assassin Labs, the Armor's efficiency was further enhanced with Dust-laced Aura boosters and shock absorbers, all of which he had painstakingly forged and upgraded to recreate Candidus Defensor into its current reincarnation.

Flaring an Eagle Pulse, he detected faint traces of cold, Aura-less life-forms at the edges of his detection radius. Grimm. Jaune smiled as he let his cold, merciless Assassin persona manifest, his bright, cerulean eyes darkening ,his face adopting the cold, unrelenting mask of the Assassin. Jaune drew Trinity, the Light-Bow humming in anticipation as a trio of explosive bolts formed, primed to detonate on impact. the Assassin pulled the dark, shimmering string of the deadly weapon as he set off towards the distant Grimm.

Time to _hunt._

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

**Back to Blake's POV,**

The mistress of stealth combat soared through the air, having just been launched off the platform at the cliff into the forest where Initiation would be carried out. Blake coolly unsheathed Gambol Shroud as she neared the apex of her flight through the air and she began to fall towards the canopy of the forest below her. Gambol Shroud's black ribbon flared outwards and wrapped around a tree branch, pulling Blake out of her fall before she landed softly on the branch, watching carefully to see if her arrival had alerted any large Grimm to her presence. Her large, amber eyes scanned the area for any movement. Clear. Blake gracefully slid to the ground, landing in a crouch, her Faunus cat ears twitching under her bow as she took in her surroundings. Twirling Gambol Shroud's ribbon around her head, she drew her over-sized midnight-black weapon from its equally sharp sheathe as she ventured deeper into the forest.

Blake kept her footsteps light and soft, glancing warily around as she swiftly, yet silently maneuvered through the foliage of the Emerald forest, her bow twitching as she carefully threaded around twigs and fallen leaves, being on guard for any stray Grimm. As if on cue, she heard a rustling in the bushes a short distance away. Instantly reacting to the sound, Blake quickly scaled a nearby tree, spinning Gambol Shroud around to prime her weapon's pistol form at the rustling in the bushes which was rapidly approaching her. Blake squinted her amber eyes in the direction of the approaching noises warily as she blended seamlessly into the dark foliage of the canopy. A pair of blood-red eyes emerged from the bushes on the ground as a low growling sound emanated from the bushes. The rustling stopped as an adult Ursa Major emerged from the treeline.

Another low, inhuman growl sounded out again, and Blake warily eyed the creature who was now sniffing around below the tree she was currently perched on. The Ursa seemed to find something, its growls reaching new volumes as it sniffed around harder .

Shit. Blake thought. The adept scent tracing capacity of the Grimm had managed to track her down, it was only due to her stealth that more had not appeared. The Ursa finally tracked Blake's scent and tilted its head up to meet Blake's rock-steady, amber stare. The black-clad Faunus leveled Gambol Shroud's pistol form at the weak point between the Bone armor of the monster, near its head.

The Ursa Major was about to let out a roar of fury and attack when Blake fired her silenced weapon repeatedly into the weak point between the armored torso of the huge Grimm and its equally well-armored head. The Ursa roared in pain as Blake emptied her magazine, slamming multiple high-velocity projectiles into the beast's neck, shattering the Bone armor which most Grimm possessed and sending jets of putrid, dark blood spraying out.

The Ursa Major shook off the pain and shock as it charged the tree Blake was on, ramming its armored head into the tree. Blake cursed as the collision shook her to the core, her teeth rattling as the heavy impact nearly caused her to bite her tongue.

Shaking off the dazed state she was thrown into, Blake leapt off the doomed tree to another. The huge Ursa Major rammed its robust head into the tree once again and the tree finally toppled, creating a huge din in the otherwise peaceful quiet of the Emerald Forest.

Her efforts to stealth through this mission was dashed. Snarling back in rage and anger, Blake attacked relentlessly, Gambol Shroud's cleaver and sheathe slashing the Ursa Major's weakened armor and bleeding flesh at the neck, striking ruthlessly in blurs of deadly sharp, black metal. The Ursa Major roared in pain as it swiped out at Blake desperately. Blake leaped backwards, dodging the fatal blow from the Grimm's deadly sharp claws, barely avoiding the powerful strike. Blake counterattacked with top speed, swinging her VBCS- her Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe.

With the deadly combination of blade and ribbon she twirled gracefully forward, a whirlwind of death as she slashed at the wounded Grimm with both blades, the weapons propelled forward by the recoil from the firing of her silenced pistol. The blade soared forward as Blake pirouetted towards the Ursa, smashing the sheathe into the Ursa's armored face, stunning it temporarily as she utilized the opportunity to mercilessly assault the Ursa's neck, slashing and stabbing in a tornado of whizzing bullets and flashing blades as blood and flesh were gouged out, the rotten smell of the Grimm's blood permeating the air in the small clearing. With the Ursa Major roaring pitifully as it attempted to block the deadly display of graceful, death-dealing attacks, Blake yelled out as adrenaline flooded her body, spinning sideways in a pincer attack, she sliced downwards, her cleaver and its deadly sharp sheathe slashing downwards and upwards simultaneously, finally killing the Ursa.

The scissor-like attack sliced through the remains of the Bone Armor on the Grimm's neck and neatly severed the monsters head from its body. Blake landed gracefully, back facing the defeated Grimm as its severed head slammed down next to her and its headless body thudded to the ground behind her. In a display of deadly skill ,Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud after reloading its pistol form, breathing heavily as she calmed down.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

Blake finally having slowed her racing pulse rate and diminished the effects of her adrenaline, stood back up and was about to set off north when her sharp hearing detected a faint hissing. She tensed, frozen as she spotted a dark ominous shadow slithering around the clearing where the dead Ursa Major corpse remained. Blake quickly melted back into the shadows, hoping against hope that the huge, musky, rotten scent of the still lukewarm Ursa Major corpse would help mask her scent. Bloke's amber eyes widened in horror as a humongous King Taijitu surfaced from the foliage, rearing both its white and black snake heads as it hissed at the rapidly cooling body of the slain Grimm in the centre of the small clearing. Blake gulped as the red eyes of the serpent narrowed at the sight of the slain Ursa Major. Blake took a step back, this was a huge B-Class Grimm, one of the most dangerous of them all, and after slaying the huge Ursa Major just now, her strength was nearly depleted, and she might not survive this encounter with the humongous snake Grimm. As she attempted to make her escape by blending deeper into the shadows, as if fate was laughing at her, a twig snapped near her foot! Blake froze, wincing as she slowly glanced up to see the rage-filled eyes of the monster zeroing in on her and glaring.

Shit. Blake swore as she settled into a defensive stance as the monster lunged. Blake rolled out of the way, but could not escape as the King Taijitu had swiftly risen up from the grass behind her and quickly surrounded her with its large, ominously hissing body. The serpent coiled together in front of her and attacked with its long, venom-dripping fangs. Blake swore again as she leapt out of the way, the snake's scaly snout hitting the ground and instantly rearing up once more. While Blake was in mid-jump, the massive serpent head-butted her, sending her tumbling backwards before she stopped her roll and rose up in a crouch.

The serpent swiftly slithered forwards, encircling the lone Faunus again before she leaped up and emptied the magazine of her pistol as a distraction. Blake followed up by activating her semblance , leaving a shadow clone behind as she leaped backwards over the coils of scaly, muscular Grimm into the shadows. The King Taijitu lunged and sank its fangs through the shadow clone but only succeeded in sinking its venomous fangs into the ground as it passed right through the clone to slam into the soil of the forest floor.

Blake smirked as she rushed forwards, toward the confused snake Grimm as it swayed, dazed from the hard impact it took from the failed lunge into the ground. Leaping forwards, Blake kicked the snake's snout and slashed at its head with the cleaver part of her VBCS, slamming its head back from the relentless slashes Blake dealt out. The black head of the Grimm swayed dangerously as it attempted to shake off the attacks from Blake's weapon and Blake was about to deal the finishing blow when she felt her hair on the back of her neck prick up as if to warn her of danger. Trusting her instincts, Blake threw herself sideways, just in time. Her premonition was correct as the snake flowed around the amber-eyed Faunus and attempted to bite her! The black head of the King Taijitu had been faking its disorientation to trick her to get close in order to lunge out in a deadly attack.

The serpent surged forwards to bite her again, but she flipped over it and slammed both Cleaver and sheathe into its head, before firing her pistol to drive her weapons' blades in deeper into the head. The blood-red eyes of the black head of the King Taijitu faded into a glassy red as it toppled backwards, dead. Blake retrieved her weapons, panting in exhaustion, her muscles aching and her back throbbing where it had taken the brunt of her fall earlier. Pausing a moment as she surveyed the dead black head of the King Taijitu,she stilled suddenly as she heard movement behind her.

Suddenly sensing something lunging towards her, she rolled sideways, barely dodging the lunging serpent's white head behind her.

How could she have been so stupid to forget the serpent's White head? King Taijitus were famous for possessing not one but two deadly snake heads! Blake turned and looked up at the White head just as it launched itself at her. Blake dodged it and landed just in time to see the white head slither towards her at top speeds. As it got closer, she sprinted towards it and leaped onto the white head, sliding over its body and hosed the Bone Armor protection with gunfire from her VBCS in pistol form.

Desperately clinging onto the serpent Grimm's slippery scales, Blake was being thrown left and right by the thrashing white head she was currently hanging on to. Unable to maintain her precarious grip, Blake was flung off the Monster. Nearly losing hold of Gambol Shroud, she had the presence of mind and the reflexes to wrap her weapon's black ribbon around her wrist before being sent tumbling off the white head, straight into a small copse of trees. Blake winced and cried out weakly in pain as she smashed into a solid tree trunk, nearly breaking her back despite the remains of her Aura cushioning the blow. Blake attempted to stagger to her feet despite the excruciating bolts of pain surging down her back and finally succeeded as she weakly lifted up her head, her vision and hearing fuzzy. Blake shook away the black spots beginning to obscure her vision, and when her vision finally cleared, she saw the white head of the King Taijitu lunging at her!

Channeling the remnants of her Aura into a last resort attack, Blake used the Fire Dust cartridge in her weapon to leave a booby-trapped clone in front of her as she stumbled backwards. The serpent Grimm attacked the clone, sinking its venomous fangs deep into the clone before the clone erupted in a blazing inferno.

Blake waited for the flames to dissipate, revealing the flame-covered , screaming white serpent head writhing in agony as burning flames licked at its head. The King Taijitu's eyes were burned and glassy, and the scales on its snout were shriveled up from to the heat. Blake seized the opportunity to attack the blinded and wounded snake head as she dealt out a finishing blow with Gambol Shroud's cleaver, the bladed weapon decapitating the white snake head and finally, FINALLY, the King Taijitu fell.

Blake had killed 2 B-Class Grimm in less than an hour, and her body was paying the price. Her Aura was overtly taxed, and she was physically exhausted from her wounds and was suffering from pure combat exhaustion. Blake fell backwards, leaning her injured back against a nearby tree as she panted and gasped in an attempt to regain her energy.

Slowly, she began to regain her strength and managed to stand up, albeit a little shakily. Picking up Gambol Shroud and beginning to limp away from the scene of carnage, leaving behind a decapitated Ursa Major corpse and a King Taijitu one, with the black head still leaking blood and gore while the white head was completely severed from its body. Blake stumbled out of the little clearing and was about to scramble up a tree when she heard a dreaded sound.

Hissing.

Gulping in fear, the amber-eyed, exhausted Faunus spun around slowly...

Only to see another, even more massive King Taijitu right behind her. She should have known. King Taijitus always hunted in pairs, and she had just killed this Grimm's mate. Now, it wanted revenge. Blake closed her eyes, accepting her imminent demise, she was exhausted and had no hope of vanquishing this even more powerful Grimm. The last thing she saw was a flash of white and before she sank blissfully into unconsciousness, a scream of rage was heard.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

**Back to Jaune's POV,**

The warm sunlight filtered down through the canopy of Emerald Forest as it illuminated the forest floor, briefly revealing a leaping black blur. Jaune was traversing through the foliage and greenery scattered all over the forest floor, flaring an Eagle Pulse with his Aura every now and then to scan for Grimm. Heading north towards the distant ruins, Jaune's midnight black armor blended seamlessly into the shadows of the canopy. He was practically invisible, a svelte shadow gliding from place to place, albeit a heavily armed one.

Jaune hunched down to present a smaller profile after detecting several cold, Aura-less figures at the edges of his Eagle Pulse' detection radius. Pulling Trinity's firing string taut and priming a trio of camouflaged bolts with small explosive Dust charges at the tip, Jaune smirked. His quarry had just presented itself. Grimm.

Candidus Defensor's advanced targeting systems initialized, setting a way point at the top of a small hill near the centre of the small clearing where Grimm were heading to. Jaune was already on the way there, his tactical analysis of the terrain indicating a possible high ground advantage in combat with the Grimm by scaling the small hill at the centre of the little clearing. Effortlessly traversing across the clearing to the small hill in the centre, Jaune climbed the hill and set up shop. Picking up a small handful of sandy soil from the side of the hill, Jaune let the soil slowly filter through his armored Gauntlet, the sandy particles trickling through his gloved fingers.

The light breeze blew the descending soil particles in a north-western direction, Jaune gauged the wind speed from the movement of sand as it dropped onto the ground and adjusted his aim accordingly. Using Aura-enhanced vision, the cerulean-eyed Assassin spotted the movement at the edge of the clearing, near the treeline. Jaune drew back Trinity's firing string, the three explosive bolts priming on the shimmering black string, set to detonate upon impact. The Infinitas Dust Crystal mounted into the center of the Bow flashed white and the diamond-shaped Dust gem rearranged its gleaming facets into a slim aiming aid, allowing Jaune to gauge the distance required to make the shots with his bow and make calculations in ranging the weapon. Angling Trinity upwards, Jaune straightened his arms and locked his elbows and after steadying his breathing and rechecking his calculations, he fired.

The lone explosive bolt whistled into the air in an arc, soaring upwards then angling back down, silently whizzing towards the now visible blood-red eyes of the Grimm in the foliage. The arrow bolts impacted right in the midst of the gathering Grimm and detonated. A blast of explosive force flashed at the centre of the gathered Grimm, sending a shockwave outwards, scattering the Grimm and destroying their cover. Trees and foliage were blown away, revealing a huge pack of Beowolves. A dozen dead, mangled Beowolf corpses lay at the center of the shocked pack of Beowolves, evidently victims of Trinity's explosive arrows. The Alpha Beowolf shook off its shock and howled in rage at the daring assault which had wiped out a dozen of its pack with ease and wounded countless others. Spurred into action by the Alpha's charge towards the lone Assassin standing on the hill, the huge pack of almost two hundred Grimm charged, roaring and howling a war cry, following their leader's example in attacking the lone Assassin challenging them.

**A/N: Play Two Steps From Hell-Black Blade here. Trust me, I was writing this combat scene while listening to it. It embodies this perfectly. :)**

The drooling jaws and bloodthirsty expressions of the charging Grimm would have made any other Hunter back down in the face of this living tide of snapping jaws, bone armor and glassy red eyes clouded with blood lust, but Jaune didn't even flinch. Smiling coldly under his Assassin hood, Jaune stepped forward and rested an armored leg on a rock in front of him for support, before the Assassin unleashed the full power of Trinity straight into the horde of Beowolves.

Trios of Dust arrows rained down in the charging horde of Grimm, Ice Dust bolts flash-freezing the front-runners of the horde, encasing the blood-thirsty mob of Grimm in a thick layer of solid ice, immobilizing the Beowolves trapped within, effectively disrupting the collective charge of the monsters. Streams of Ice Dust arrows were repeatedly generated by the Infinitas Dust Crystal, which had turned into an icy white color, and sent soaring into the horde of Grimm. The Beowolf pack was sent spiraling into chaos, the initially orderly assault mounted by the pack was now completely halted by the rain of Ice Dust bolts from Trinity. The arrows were devastatingly effective, both due to the Ice Dust charges primed at the tip of the arrows, and the devastatingly fast fire rate of Trinity. Jaune was rapidly reloading and firing Trinity, pulling the black firing string of the bow and releasing the three arrows instantly formed there without hesitation, barely pausing to take aim.

The relentless assault resulted in the complete encasing of a third of the pack in solid ice. The Beowolves were panicking and wanted to break off their collective charge and retreat in a cowardly manner to lick their wounds and recuperate, but their Alpha, which had survived the rain of arrows, howled an order to attack and kill this enemy at all costs. Forced into submission under the control of the Alpha, the Beowolves continued their suicidal charge at the Assassin, running up the hill's slope towards the lone black-armored figure, howling for his blood. The Grimm horde ignored the hail of arrows raining into their midst and pushed past each other's frozen bodies in a relentless flood, straight towards Jaune Arc.

**_Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

Jaune smiled a ruthless grin, temporarily holding his fire. He lifted Trinity up with his left hand, and closed his eyes, reciting an unknown language.

_**"Τρινιτψ, Infinitas Πυροσβεστική σκόνη. Ενεργοποίηση αρχίσουν οι."**_

_**"Trinity, Infinitas Fire Dust. Commence activation."**_

The Infinitas Dust Crystal mounted at the center of Trinity flashed in acknowledgement. The Dust Crystal flared a fiery, burning crimson and the now crimson-colored Crystal rotated in its position, before Trinity flashed crimson and was covered in a red, glowing aura. When the glow faded, Trinity's previously icy-blue Infinitas Dust stripes embedded within the Black metal of the bow was now colored Crimson. Trinity, with its newly colored Dust stripes was now a midnight-black bow with crimson stripes. Jaune twirled Trinity around, pulling the firing string back, allowing a trio of midnight-black arrow shafts with Fire Dust charges to materialize.

Grinning in anticipation, Jaune fired the weapon. Trinity now spat streams of Fire Dust arrows into the horde of Grimm, setting the Beowolves on fire, roiling waves of burning flames sweeping across the amassed ranks of Grimm. Many Beowolves were instantly incinerated by the insanely high temperatures of pure Fire Dust, leaving behind charred husks while other Grimm rolled in the grass of the incline of the hill, desperately yowling in agony. The previously frozen Beowolves now exploded in splashes of putrid, dark blood and chunks of flesh and bone, as the freezing cold and terrible heat simultaneously wreaked havoc to the frozen sculptures. The putrid stench of burnt, rotten flesh permeated the air around the hill, revealing a scene of carnage. Dead Beowolf corpses littered the hill, some burnt, frozen, exploded and dismembered, the corpses' dark blood soaking into the soil of the hill, shattered Bone Armor pieces scattered all over the place. Dark, inky smoke wafted across the hill's slope, creating a scene of utter annihilation as the still blazing flames from the Fire Dust flickered and burned.

Out of the previously innumerable tide of Grimm, now remained barely a few dozen, pathetically injured and burned Beowolves, including the Alpha, which had a burning arrow impaled through its shoulder, with charred fur and cauterized flesh. The Alpha roared in rage and agony, refusing to admit defeat to a lone enemy, despite the formidable firepower the Assassin wielded. The remains of the pack charged in a last stand, following the limping and howling Alpha Beowolf.

Jaune smiled, shedding his Assassin cloak and hood, before slinging Trinity over his shoulder and drawing the two C-shaped weapons holstered to the back of Candidus Defensor. Flicking the weapons, the metallic disks morphed into Jaune's War-Glaives, the deadly bladed teeth of the weapons gleaming in the sunlight, desperate for bloodshed. Jaune yelled out in rage, channeling more Aura into his body, racing ahead to meet the Beowolves charge in close quarters combat.

Jaune hurled a War-Glaive with all his might, sending the deadly sharp weapon spinning out to the right, slashing through the horde of Grimm, decapitating two Beowolves and dismembering three more before being snatched out of the air. Jaune leaped over the overeager lunges of the first few Grimm attacking and drew Crocea Mors. Stabbing a Beowolf in the head, Jaune ducked under three sets of sharp, slashing claws before wrenching his ancestral sword out with a wet *whoosh* sound.

Jaune started slashing sideways and parrying another Beowolf's lunge, slicing off its paws in a spray of blood before the Assassin rolled backwards, barely dodging another swipe of claws and smashed his armored gauntlet straight into the bone-armored snout of an attacking Grimm. The Bone armor shattered from the powerful blow and the sheer toughness of the Hard Light gauntlet, the armored fist smashing through the Beowolf's face in a spray of blood. Unsheathing his Hidden Blade, Jaune leapt over a pair of Grimm and stabbed them through the neck, slicing the jugular of the monsters open before wrenching his armored fist out of the Grimm's head which he had punched through, callously throwing the mutilated corpse aside.

In the midst of the carnage, the pair of War-Glaives, which had been sent spiraling outwards in a deadly arc of destruction, returned to the Assassin who reholstered the weapons, before activating Crocea Mors' shield mode from its scabbard. A pure white shield with the twin yellow symbols of the Arcs materialized on Jaune's left Gauntlet, blocking a powerful blow from the Alpha Beowolf, before sending the offending Grimm flying away in a powerful shield bash. Jaune leapt sideways, barely dodging a Grimm's lunge before spinning round in an Aura-fuelled, roundhouse kick straight to the monsters head, caving in its skull. The last few Grimm regrouped and lunged simultaneously in a pounce straight for Jaune's head, claws unsheathed. Jaune immediately hunkered down, protecting himself with his shield, creating sparks where the razor-sharp claws of the Beowolves clashed with the unyielding metal of the shield. Heaving the shield up, Jaune threw the three Grimm on his shield away, sending them flying upwards. Re-collapsing his Shield into Crocea Mors' scabbard, Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors and drew Trinity, summoning a trio of explosive Dust arrow before firing. The arrows whistled towards the still flying Beowolves and embedded themselves in the heads of the monsters before detonating in a trio of explosions and spraying blood and gore outwards.

The Beowolf pack was no more.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

As Jaune slowly scaled the incline of the hill in the centre of the blood-soaked clearing, he flared an Eagle Pulse, verifying that the clearing was free of any Grimm apart from the humongous collection of destroyed Beowolf corpses scattered all over the place. The clearing was free of any cold, Aura-less figures and Jaune smiled. Putting on his midnight-black Assassin cloak and pulling his hood down, Jaune was happy to find that his Assassin attire was miraculously clean of any bloodstains. After cleaning and re-holstering his weapons, Jaune was about to leave the clearing when he heard a loud death-cry in the distance. Jaune narrowed his eyes. An Ursa Major. The massive B-Class monster was a formidable opponent. Whoever managed to slay the monster, judging from the shattering death roar of the beast must have been skilled indeed. Deciding to make a detour to aid the person who had defeated the Grimm, Jaune pulled down his hood and reactivated Candidus Defensor's camouflage systems, sprinting back into the forest, homing in on the continuing sounds of suppressed gunfire and clashing in the distance.

**A while later...**

The blonde, hooded and armored Assassin arrived at another clearing in the Emerald Forest, only to find another scene of carnage which shocked him. A huge Ursa Major lay dead in the center of the clearing, multiple empty black pistol cartridges laying scattered all over the place. The Ursa Major's head lay a short distance away from the corpse, still leaking blood and gore. Not just one B-Class Grimm corpse lay dead there though, another massive dead King Taijitu corpse lay coiled, with the Black head slumped over the coils of scaly flesh while the white head was completely severed from the body and lay a distance away. Whoever had slain these two B-Class Grimm was obviously extremely skilled, and sure enough, the cerulean-eyed Assassin caught sight of a limping, black-clad figure leaning against a nearby tree, completely exhausted.

"Blake?" Jaune gaped in shock and horror at the Blake's lolling head, she looked half-dead already, on the brink of unconsciousness, her knuckles clenched around Gambol Shroud as she staggered unsteadily on her feet. She needed help. _Now_. Jaune was about to rush forward to help her when he noticed a flash of moving scales. Another King Taijitu had appeared, most likely the mate of the dead one lying in the centre of the clearing. These Grimm always hunted in pairs, and this serpent was going to avenge its dead partner. Jaune snarled in rage and fury as he poured on the speed, armored legs pumping as he began sprinting forward, bellowing a war cry in rage at the monster which had dared to attack and harm his friend. Blake had collapsed in the face of the rapidly approaching danger and was in no position to help.

Jaune unsheathed Crocea Mors and hurled his freshly formed shield straight at the lunging Black head of the King Taijitu, knocking its lunge off course. While the black head was stunned, he leapt into the way of the white head's pounce, parrying away the white head's attempt to sink its venomous fangs into Blake who was lying unconscious on the floor of the clearing, completely defenseless. The black head reared back before pouncing forwards again, in tandem with the white head, ruthlessly plunging towards the lone, comparatively puny figure blocking its path to vengeance. Jaune found that he could not dodge or leap away, for Blake's unconscious body was laying directly behind him, and it was her who would be pierced by the serpent's venomous fangs if he leapt out of the way. Gritting his teeth, he braced himself and readied his shield to defend himself for impact.

**_Bam!_**

The tremendous force of the two massive heads colliding with his armored and defensive stance sent Jaune tumbling backwards, Candidus Defensor's power protecting him from harm, despite a 5% drop in his Aura levels. Cursing in frustration , Jaune hurled his shield into the white head's snout, the shield spinning and smashing into the Bone Armor of the serpent's snout, dazing and disorientating the monster, buying some time for Jaune. Jaune then spun round and smashed the hilt of Crocea Mors straight into the face of the black head of the serpent Grimm, shattering the Bone Armor there, sending the monster reeling back from the Aura-enhanced blow. Jaune drew Trinity, firing streams of explosive arrows into the Grimm, smashing it back relentlessly from the devastating, unrelenting assault. Sprinting forwards, Jaune paused to snap up his shield which he slung over his back as he continued firing a barrage of explosive arrows into the Grimm's twin head, causing both heads to hiss in pain at the unrelenting barrage of explosive arrows.

Recovering rapidly from the assault of explosives, the massive serpent uncoiled its muscular, scaly body and lashed out, flicking its body in a whip-like assault, the explosive arrows detonating on its armored scales failing to deflect its counter-attack. Jaune swore as he quickly brought up Crocea Mors' shield, the impact of the serpent Grimm's attack jarring his shield arm and sending a shudder down his body as he was sent skidding backwards, still in a defensive stance. Jaune swore again as he was forced to place himself between Blake's unconscious body and the charging serpent Grimm, which seemed determined to knock him aside to exact its vengeance onto Blake. His efforts to simultaneously protect Blake and defeat the King Taijitu was severely restricting his fighting style and limited his effectiveness against the Grimm. He needed to even the odds. When the black head lunged forward again in an attempt to sink its venomous fangs into the Assassin, Jaune did not immediately dodge, instead he waited until the last possible moment before sidestepping lightly and darting forward. The cerulean-eyed boy kicked the hissing jaws of the serpent open and stabbed Crocea Mors into the King Taijitu's upper jaw, driving his ancestral sword hilt deep into the unprotected inner flesh of the snake. The black head of the King Taijitu reared back in pain as Jaune leaped backwards, re-collapsing his shield and readying Trinity.

_**"Τρινιτψ, Infinitas Αντικεραυνική σκόνη. Ενεργοποίηση αρχίσουν οι!"**_

_**"Trinity, Infinitas Lightning Dust. Commence activation!"**_

Jaune yelled out desperately as the Bow flashed accordingly. The Infinitas Dust Crystal flashed a bright, whitish-yellow, radiating an aura of crackling electricity as the Crystal rotated and adopted a bright yellow color. Jaune hurriedly pulled the shimmering black firing string, and a trio of midnight-black, metallic arrow shafts crackled with electricity as the Lightning Dust charges on the arrows' tips glowed with uncontrollable power. Jaune yelled out in fury as he fired, the three bolts arcing towards the writing and thrashing King Taijitu. The arrows stabbed into the Grimm's body and released their Lightning Dust into the monster's body. Electricity from the Lightning Dust sparked and shocked the scaly muscles in the body as crackling electricity arced down the Grimm's body, frying the monster's flesh and delivering a large dose of electrical shock.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The air was filled with the smell of frying flesh. The monster hissed in agony and rage, shaking off the residual effects of the Lightning Dust bolts as the monster lunged at Jaune again, slamming into Jaune with all the unrestrained force of a speeding train colliding into Jaune's armor. Candidus Defensor absorbed the blow effortlessly, but the extremely powerful blow depleted Jaune's Aura by twenty percent and set Jaune's ears ringing and his vision turning fuzzy. Jaune dizzily shook off his disorientation, despite his ribs feeling like he had been run over by a bus, and roared in frustration and rage, slamming his armored Gauntlets into the Grimm's snout, sending it reeling back from the Aura-enhanced blow and the extremely tough armor. Jaune ripped the War-Glaives off Candidus Defensor's back armor holsters and slashed away at the King Taijitu's body, ripping open huge, gaping wounds in the scaly, armored body.

The serpent Grimm hissed in agony, lashing out with its uncoiled body, whipping the whole length forwards, straight towards the lone Assassin in its path. Jaune cursed as he held his Glaives in front of him in an "X" formation, deflecting most of the force of the incoming blow. However, Jaune was disarmed, his Glaives ripped out of his armored hands from the force of the heavy blow. Jaune swore, unsheathing his Hidden Blade and his Hook Blade, both of which were tiny compared to the huge Grimm. Jaune rolled aside as the serpent stabbed forwards in a lunge, sinking its fangs where he had been barely a second ago. Jaune snarled in fury as he ran up the snake's scaly snout, his armored boots pounding up the King Taijitu's face, Jaune roared in rage as he plunged his Hidden Blade and Hook Blade repeatedly into the Blood-red eyes of the Grimm's white head, gouging out blood and a milky fluid from the ruined, punctured eyes of the King Taijitu's white head.

Jaune reached under his flapping cloak to retrieve several smoke bombs which he hurled into the face of the other black head of the serpent Grimm, before leaping off the blinded, thrashing of the white head as the bombs detonated with a heavy **_*whump*_** sound, releasing a noxious blend of smoky gas which billowed out in a cloud around the black head, effectively incapacitating the Grimm's sight and smell capabilities. Jaune rushed up the Black head and ripped open its jaws with his powered, Aura-enhanced armor. Seeing the telltale gleam of the hilt of his Ancestral sword buried in the upper jaw of the serpent Grimm's black snakehead, Jaune slammed both his boots into the King Taijitu's lower jaw, and using one armored hand to hold the monsters jaw open, Jaune tugged on Crocea Mors hilt and ripped his sword out, a spray of gore spiraling from the deep wound.

Jaune was about to stab the black head again, when the Monster reeled back in agony, flinging it's head left and right, trying to dislodge the lone intruder in its jaws. Jaune, who was already having enough trouble holding the Grimm's powerful jaws from snapping shut, lost his balance and was sent flying out. Jaune reached out with his armored hand to grab something to arrest his sudden flight but only succeeded in breaking off a pair of venomous fangs from the monsters jaws. Jaune pivoted in mid-air, maneuvering his body into a descending, controlled fall. Landing in a crouch, Jaune raced forwards, leaping high over the black heads line and stabbed Crocea Mors into the Grimm's black snakehead. Leaving his sword embedded up to the hilt in the fatally wounded head, Jaune flipped the venomous fangs he had ripped off into a reverse grip before rolling under the White head's blind lunge as he stabbed the two fangs into the monsters head from underneath.

_"Have a taste of your own medicine, you monster. "_

Jaune snarled as he watched the White head join its black counterpart in writhing in its death throes as it's own venom pumped throughout its body. The Monster dissolved from the inside as the deadly venom worked its power, dissolving the flesh of the Grimm under its Scales. Turning his back to the smoking Scales and flesh of the dead King Taijitu, Jaune rushed towards Blake's unconscious form. Stabbing Crocea Mors into the ground, the Assassin skidded to a halt next to his fallen friend. Jaune channeled Aura into his hands and placed them on Blake's unconscious form, allowing his warm, white Aura to cascade over the fallen black-clad girl. As he watched, the healing process began, Blake's numerous flesh wounds closing and disappearing, the huge bruise on her back slowly disappeared like a coffee stain wiped away by a wet cloth as cuts and abrasions sealed and faded away. His Aura rejuvenating Blake's exhausted body and Aura, Jaune fell backwards onto his knees, sighing in relief as Blake slowly came back to the land of the living.

_"W.. Wh... What? Jaune? What are you doing here... Ooh, my head hurts... " _

Blake mumbled as she cradled her head as the throbbing in her forehead refused to stop. Jaune smiled reassuringly and said. _" Relax, the King Taijitu is dead. You're safe now, my Aura is healing you as we speak. "_

Blake then shook off the daze, finally noticing Jaune's Aura-covered hands placed on her shoulders and stomach, the warm feeling of his Aura flowing over her like a comforting blanket. Blushing a light red at the light, feather-like contact between Jaune's hands and her body, Blake closed her amber eyes and sighed in relief, as another healing burst of the cerulean-eyed boy's Aura washed over her. Her migraine retreated, and Blake sighed in relief as she sat up.

"What now? " The now fully healed, amber-eyed girl asked as she stood up, checking her weapon and her surroundings, taking in the sight of the dead King Taijitu Jaune had slain, two of its own fangs stabbed under the white snakehead's jaw.

_" You killed it? Thanks for saving my life back there. I thought I was dead for sure."_ Blake said gratefully with a bright smile and a small blush adorning her pale cheeks. Jaune smiled reassuringly, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards as he helped Blake up. " It was nothing. You are one of my friends, I protect all the people I care about."

As Jaune spun around to recollect his scattered weapons all over the clearing, he missed Blake's face brightening up with an embarrassed, yet warm smile as a huge blush exploded over her pale complexion. Blake watched as Jaune mecha-shifted his Glaives, retracting the razor sharp teeth and slung Trinity over his shoulders, before finally sheathing Crocea Mors in its reformed scabbard. "Ready?" Jaune asked as he retracted his Hidden and Hook Blades into his armored Gauntlets.

Blake nodded in agreement, still silently admiring how the form-fitting armor and it's shimmering Light armor plates hugged Jaune's muscular physique and still provided excellent protection. "Why does your armor have those Light plates?" Blake inquired curiously as the pair set off towards a large mountain in the distance, "My armor has Aura projectors and force enhancers, allowing my Aura, the Light of my Soul, to form armor plates made of impenetrable Light." Jaune replied proudly replied as they headed North, checking his Scroll as the he walked ahead, his midnight-black Assassin cloak blending into the shadows of the treeline. Blake followed, her own deeply-ingrained stealth skills surfacing as the pair silently, stealthily traversed through the woods. "Nice." the ebony-haired girl said before silence covered the stealthy pair as they vanished into the forest's embrace.

_**Line Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

**A little while later...**

The Assassin and his lone companion appeared at the edges of the woods, the pair crouching down behind the cover of the foliage scattered near the treeline as they observed the stone temple currently before them. Chess pieces laid before them, set upon stone pedestals. The whole place had a hushed atmosphere, as if it was waiting for someone, or something to happen. Jaune narrowed his eyes, his Mentor was not known for simple missions, and this was too easy. Something was wrong. The place was too quiet. IN the midst of the northern end of the forest, there were supposed to be some normal wildlife running about, but there was absolute silence. No birds chirping, rustling or movement. Either all the wildlife were in hiding or had been scared away, or they were _dead._

Jaune pulled his black hood which had been obscuring his face back, Jaune released Candidus Defensor's Aura limiters, placing an armored hand on the ground, he flared his Aura while simultaneously keeping a lookout for trouble. Blake inquired," What are you do-" The ebony-haired girl was silenced when a pulse of Aura flared out from around the kneeling Arc, a small, nearly indiscernible wave of power washing out from the cerulean-eyed boy. Jaune looked up, and Blake gasped. Jaune's originally clear blue eyes were now a glowing, stark white color. Jaune shook off his trance, his eyes returning to their normal shade of cerulean. "Sorry, Blake." The Assassin explained apologetically," I needed more power for my Eagle Pulse and i disabled my armor's Aura restrictions, allowing me to use more Aura than usual. Anyway, I have a bad feeling about this mission, this mission has run too smoothly and easily for a mission assigned by Mentor Ozpin."

Blake arched an elegant eyebrow in surprise," Hmm. You certainly are lucky to have Headmaster Ozpin mentor you, as far as I know, he has never taken in any apprentices."

Jaune nodded, his eyes raking the stone temple for any life signs," I know I am lucky to have such a great man mentor me. Especially after the... "Jaune trailed off slowly, realising that he could have said too much. Straightening up quickly, Jaune spoke hurriedly," C'mon. The faster we complete this, the safer I feel." Rapidly yet quietly venturing out towards the temple from the relative safety and cover afforded by the treeline, the Assassin headed towards the Temple. His lowered head, grim expression and rigid stance offering no room for arguments. This conversation was obviously over. Blake could not comprehend what could have possibly happened to transform Jaune's usually bright, carefree personality into this grim, secretive self. Deciding not to pry too deep into other people's affairs, Blake stepped forward too, following Jaune. It wasn't like she had no skeletons in **_her own_** closet, after all, with her involvement in the White Fang. Some things were not ready to be revealed just yet.

"Sorry about earlier, you know..." Jaune trailed off as he spoke apologetically to his beautiful amber-eyed companion, scratching his head nervously."It's just that some things-" The cerulean-eyed Assassin was cut off by a long, graceful finger on his lips. "Are not ready to be shared just yet. I understand completely, I do not blame you, there is no need to apologize." Blake took her graceful finger off Jaune's lips and elegantly walked off to examine a black chess piece. Jaune stood, frozen to the spot. Unable to comprehend the somewhat intimate gesture, the Assassin shook himself out of his slight blush and reverie. Distractions tended to get one killed in the midst of battle.

_But damn, her finger as so delicate yet warm, how he wished he could one day hold that-..._

Jaune shook off the effects of his treacherous thoughts and was about to follow Blake when he heard a scream." Heads UUUUPPPPPPPPPPPP!"

Instinctively sinking into a defensive stance and drawing their weapons, simultaneously, Jaune and Blake glanced at one another, their perfectly honed and synchronized battle reflexes surprising even each other. Breaking the awkward eye contact, Jaune looked up and squinted through the Sun's glare to see a plunging yellow blur...

"Is that Yang?" BLake inquired curiously.

_"Yeah. Question is, where did she come from?"_

Leaping high up with a powerful Aura-fuelled jump, Jaune arrested Yang's rapid fall and caught a second plummeting figure just in time. Great, Weiss. The petite heiress looked disheveled, her snowy white locks messy and out of place, her clothes windswept snd messed up.

"What on Remnant possessed me to agree to hitching a ride on a GIANT NEVERMORE with you, you blonde bimbo!" The heiress began ranting.

_Well, that answered that question._

Yang was about to retort hotly when she noticed who caught them. Instantly, her attitude turned from an irritated, imminent ranting to a coy, flirty one. "HEyyyy, Lady Killer..." Yang batted her eyelashes at her savior. Jaune rolled his eyes, in tandem with Weiss.

The Assassin landed back on the ground next to Blake with a soft, muffled thump as Candidus Defensor's shock absorbers negated the shock from the landing. The ivory-haired hiress instantly leapt out of her perch in Jaune's arms and began brushing herself off, muttering something about idiotic blonde bimbos and even more idiotic blonde saviors.

"Don't I get some thanks?" Jaune inquired cheekily, lifting an eyebrow at the grumbling heiress.

"D-Dunce! You're lucky I didn't give you a thrashing for that prank you pulled on me in the locker room!" The heiress scowled, a light blush adorning her cheeks, whether from embarrassment or frustration, Jaune could not figure out.

"Don't worry about her, Lady Killer." Yang interjected, pouting." I'd be more than willing to give you your **_reward _**as**_ thanks_**!" The blonde-haired girl snuggled deeper into Jaune's arms as he blushed from the innuendo. Blake's bow and eyebrow twitched. As if sensing the foreboding aura permeating the atmosphere, Jaune immediately dropped Yang and stepped behind Blake, laughing nervously...

The impending argument was interrupted when another scream was heard as a crimson blur soared out over the trees of the Emerald Forest, cannon-balling straight into the midst of the group. Ruby sat up dazedly from where she had landed on Weiss, flattening the petite heiress into the dirt as the rest of the group stared in shock. 'UHhhh... Hate getting flung by Deathstalkers... Heyyyyyyy, is that you Yanggg... There's three of you..."

She looked so dizzy and unfocused, she resembled someone who had recently gotten drunk off their feet...

"Ruby, are you drunk?" Yang asked worriedly.

"NOOOOoopppeeee. Just got flung off while fighting Deathstalker with Pyrrhaaaaaaa..." Ruby drifted off again, slurring her words.

Suddenly, there was an immense crash as the trees at the edges of the woods smashed open, a crimson blur racing out of the woods, followed by a massive Ancient Deathstalker snapping its pincers and waving its tail in rage.

As Pyrrha Nikos raced towards the gathered group, outpacing the massive Scorpion Grimm, a massive caw sounded out across the forest. Up above the group a Giant Nevermore roared a challenge, evidently returned to exact its vengeance on the tiny insects which had dared to hitch a ride on it.

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily.

"I KNEW this was too easy, but this goes too far!"

**Annnd CUT! This chapter was a whopping almost 11000+ words. One bitch of a chapter to write, especially with an overwhelming workload and writer's block, but here's your chapter at last. Guys, please review to tell me whether you like this fat chapter or not. I've got an awesome pre-reader now, and thus, the quality should have improved. Tell me what you think in a review, and I'll try to update soon, OK Guys? Reviews motivate us writers to update, Ya Know? Hope you enjoyed and Seeya!**

_A/N The next chapter will contain the end to Initiation, the assembling of the rest of the crew and the fight between the Hunters-In-Training and the Giant Nevermore and the Ancient Deathstalker. PLUS A SURPRISE! I'm surprised no one got my clue in the PMs i got guessing about the last stage of Initiation. If you got a good guess tell me in a review! Clue: **Evolve.**_


	11. AN

**A/N**

**Progress Report!**

** So far in the next chapter, which covers the rest of Initiation, I have encountered some minor Writer's block so I decided to revamp the first few chapters of this story before I continue. Think of it as a short break. I have restructured and edited the initial second chapter of this story and I shifted it one chapter up, replacing the initial chapter one. I tried my best to correct it and added in some more combat as I felt the Assassination went too smoothly. Please check it out and tell me what you think in a review. Thanks. Have patience. New chapter coming out after I complete revamping process. **

**By the way, my usage of my laptop has been restricted. So forgive any typos as I am currently typing this out on a tiny iPhone screen. Not to forget the lousy autocorrect which changes words suddenly with a tap of my space button.**


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